Trigger Girl: Revival
by itsthisjealousy
Summary: Revival of my original story Trigger Girl. Ryan never did find out why Joe started killing but he's about to meet her. Joe x OC
1. Chapter 1 - We Begin

Ryan Hardy was ready to give up. Joe Carroll's people had their hands in everything and it seemed they had eyes everywhere. Joe remained in prison and yet he seemed to have more control than any of the agents who surrounded Ryan now. They were in a frenzy swirling around the office in the Virginia prison like a great tornado. Agents flew from one desk to another, papers passing between them and words leaving their lips in a newfound urgency. First they had taken Joey, and then Ryan's sister and now Joe's people had got their hands on one of the FBI's own. Mike Weston had been missing for forty eight hours but it was clear by the smug look on Joe's face that his people had played their part in this.

Joe sat stilly in the interrogation room the agents had dragged him into. Multiple people had been in and out in the past two days but Joe hadn't given them the slightest hint about where Mike was. Even Ryan hadn't been able to get a decent word out of him so Joe remained in the room, looking at the blank walls and occasionally glancing up at the video camera in the corner. In comparison to the room with all the agents, Joe sat in peace.

"Ryan, are you listening?" Joe's lips moved after hours of silence. The sound of his voice played into the earphones of agent Mitchell who had been typing away trying to find some sort of lead on her computer. She had been close to Weston and she hadn't left her desk since he was taken. At first she took Joe's voice in her head as some sort of delusion created by her exhausted state but when Joe's voice sounded again Olivia realized he was actually speaking. "Anyone? I'd like to chat now."

"Hardy," Mitchell called Ryan over quickly. "Joe's asking for you."

No other words were needed to send Ryan out of the room and down the hall to join Joe. Two guards outside the room stopped him from entering until Debra Parker stepped out of the room after Ryan. "Let him through." she ordered. Debra knew that Joe tended to talk to Ryan more and at this point they didn't have a single clue as to where Joe's followers had taken Mike so they needed to grasp at every straw that was presented.

Ryan entered Joe's room with his shoulders squared and his head up. He couldn't show Joe that he was feeling defeated, even if he was. "What is it Joe? Bored?" Ryan snarked as he closed the door behind him, moving to take a seat across from Joe at the metal table in the middle of the room. Joe's chains shook as he moved to clasp his hands together, the metal clashing against the top of the table with a sound that would have startled most but Ryan didn't flinch. The two of them should have learnt by now that they couldn't intimidate each other and yet they both continued to try.

"Disinterested." Joe answered "Disenchanted." he answered with a sigh. "We'll bore the readers at this point, we can't just halt the rising action like this, we need to keep going." Ryan had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Joe and his book were seriously getting on his nerves.

"So tell me where Agent Weston is."

"That would be too simple." Joe shook his head. "But I may point you in the right direction, once you give me what I want." Joe's eyes lifted with a torturous gleam placed in them. The cogs of his mind were turning at a furious rate, his malicious assembly line of thoughts shining through the hollow brown spheres in his head.

"What do you want Joe?"

"Not what." Joe spoke quickly. "Who."

"I'm not bringing Claire back in here." Ryan said in a hard voice. Joe's people already had Joey so Ryan assumed that Joe wanted to see his ex-wife again. Ryan was not about to let that happen when Joe had tried to choke the life out of Claire the last time she had been put in a room with him.

"Claire? Oh Ryan, you think too simply of me." Joe's breath left his lips with a small laugh. Ryan waited on his next words, for the explanation of what he wanted but Joe hesitated. The cogs slowed and his mind focused in on one thing. His next words would be important and he wanted to make sure he phrased them correctly.

"Who is it that you want Joe?"

Joe didn't give Ryan an answer, instead he sat quietly, his mind mulling over this moment. He had waited for this day and it had come earlier than he had expected. Joe had made the plans to kidnap an FBI agent but he had been unaware of Weston and how important he would become for Ryan. It made the situation sweeter, especially because it had all happened ahead of schedule. Everything was practically falling into his lap, years of work was finally paying off.

Ryan didn't have time or patience for Joe's slow down. The ex-FBI agent slammed his hands down on the table, causing Joe to focus on him. Another laugh left Joe's lips as he watched Ryan get agitated. It was frustrating for Joe to watch Ryan act so predictively. There was a formula to Ryan Hardy that involved regret, drinking and anger. It always resulted in anger. Joe saw potential in that emotion but he wanted more from Ryan; he wanted to break him.

Today, however was not about Ryan or even Mike Weston. Joe's still eyes remained on Ryan's face as he waited for a reaction. His lips opened as if he were about to give Ryan the answer he was looking for but hesitation came over him again. The name rolled over in his mind a few times, his thoughts focusing on it and building an image of the person in his mind. It had been almost ten years and yet the picture was clear. Joe's eyes cast down at his hands to realize they were trembling. He tried to stop the shaking but the more he focused on it the more it became noticeable. Soon his chains were rattling against the table and even Ryan knew that something was up.

"Who?" he asked again. Ryan's question snapped Joe's mind away from the image in his head and his eyes raised from his shaking hands to connect with Ryan's once more. Ryan waited, his lips pressed together in a straight line as he watched Joe's open to speak a name.

"Agent Liette Arnaut."


	2. Chapter 2 - The Pariah

Agent Liette Arnaut had not been among those from Quantico that had been assigned to the Joe Carroll case. Carroll was taking up much of their resources at the Behavioral Analysis Unit but there were still other cases and other jobs to be done. In Liette's case, there was a class to be taught at the training academy. At twenty nine she was the youngest agent to act as a professor. What she lacked in actual experience she made up for in knowledge. She had only worked a dozen cases in her three years in the BAU but at twenty nine she was one of the only agents with two PhDs and work experience as a guest lecturer at four different universities. She was the resident genius in Quantico but that was hardly the reason Joe wanted to speak to her.

"Who?" Ryan asked immediately as Joe voiced his request. He had been out of the FBI for long enough to have lost track of most new recruits. He hadn't known anyone when he had been pulled back onto this case but by now he knew most of their names. He highly doubted she was among those who were working the case. Parker, Weston, Mitchell...not matter how many names he ran through his head the name Arnaut didn't seem familiar.

Debra was not in the same boat as Hardy. The moment she heard Liette's name leave Carroll's lips she was rushing back towards the interrogation room. The guards outside moved out of the way for her with a wave of her hand so she could join the two men. The door flew open, causing both Ryan and Joe to cast their eyes upon the brunette who stood before them. Debra let out a breath so sharp that it felt as if it cut through the air. A concerned look lay upon her face, her eyes narrowing and her brow flattened in confusion. She had been Liette's supervising officer for the past year and a half so she knew exactly who Carroll was talking about, she just didn't know why. With one of her agents already missing and their investigation coming up with nothing Debra wanted some answers.

"What do you want with Liette?" Debra asked before Joe could answer Ryan's question. She swallowed hard as she watched a sickly smile move its way along Joe's lips in one swift motion. He straightened his shoulders and lifted his head, his gaze dancing past Ryan to hold Debra's own. It made her sick to see him so confident like this. They had him in custody and yet sometimes it felt like he held all the cards. Joe was constantly one step ahead of them and Debra needed to find a way to put an end to that. Handing him one of her agents hardly seemed like a smart way to go about that. He already had Mike, he couldn't let him have Liette as well.

"I'd like to see her."

The request seemed so strange. A feeling was rising in Debra that Liette was somehow connected to Carroll but she wanted to deny herself such doubt. They had already seen that Joe had his hands in the military and the police force but Debra hated the thought that he had infiltrated the FBI. She especially didn't like the idea that one of her own could be one of his pawns. From the brief experience Debra had with Liette she knew the girl to be a good agent and a better worker. She was difficult to get to know on a personal basis but she always put one hundred and ten percent of herself into every case they were involved with. That thought spiraled Debra into another, making her wonder if Liette's involvement in the BAU was sparked by Joe. Ted Bundy and a handful of other killers had thrown themselves into the police investigations of their crimes, it wasn't completely impossible for Liette to have joined the FBI in order to stay close to Joe. They had already seen the amount of devotion Carroll's followers had for him. Jordy had killed himself before he had to tell them anything about Joe and the others had created whole fake lives just to play their parks in Joe's book. What if Liette was no different?

"You will get her for me, won't you agent Parker?" Joe's voice beckoned Debra out of her thoughts but not away from her worries. She stepped into the room a bit more, trying to show confidence but her worry was written all over her face. Joe could read her like a book and the smile that remained on his lips showed just how amused he was by the fact that Debra was scared. He fed on that fear, knowing that he could use it to turn her into his puppet for the time being. He just had to tug on the right strings to make her dance for him. "I'll get to see Liette and hopefully you'll all get to see agent Weston again. If you act quick enough."

"How much time do we have Joe?" Debra asked, worried for Mike.

"Not more than a day now. It's a good thing Quantico isn't that far." Joe said, instructing Debra to go do what she needed to to get Liette here just with the look in his eyes. It was difficult not to think about Poe's whole eyes as the windows into the soul when Joe's bore into Debra in such a way. The blankness of his stare was chilling like a night with no stars. The dark brown of his irises appeared black in his unfeeling stare. Those eyes were something that Debra wished she didn't have to look into. After almost ten years with the FBI, Debra didn't scare easily but there was something about Joe Carroll that was haunting. He couldn't startle her or frighten her out of the room but that ghostly stare would still be there when she closed her eyes to sleep.

"Who is she to you?" Ryan asked, realizing Debra had stopped questioning.

"An old friend." Joe said, intertwining his fingers like laces, crossing them over each other tightly in hopes that such a hold would stop his hands from trembling. His face appeared cold and still but the rattling of his chains drew the picture of a man who was stirring inside. Joe Carroll wasn't nearly as put together as Debra took him for, not when it came to Liette. "She was a student of mine." he elaborated, stopping himself from divulging too much information just because he wanted to talk about her. Joe knew he could have written books just on the many looks Liette got when she was studying or the ways she tied her hair up. He could have put pen to paper for hours just describing every curve of her body and tone of her voice. He had to deny himself such descriptive pleasures here with Debra and Ryan or he'd give too much of himself away. So far they saw Claire as his only weakness but she was a mere irritation in comparison to the girl he requested now.

"Liette was in your class at Winslow?" Debra asked, her worries stitching together in a tapestry that held Liette as an accolade. She pictured the young woman, blonde and slender, sitting across from Joe, separated by glass as he convinced her to do his bidding. Could she really be no different than Emma? Another girl enchanted by Joe's charm and his idea that real art involved feeling. It didn't sound like that logical young woman she knew but at the same time Debra knew she couldn't rule out the option.

"That would be how she was my student, yes." Joe rested his hands against the cool metal of the table, separating his fingers to he could push his palms against the flat surface. This steadied him as he prepared to speak again. "Liette took my course on romantic literature as an elective, perhaps you remember seeing her once or twice Ryan. She never missed a single class." Joe didn't expect Hardy to actually remember Liette, after all the most memorable student from that class for Hardy would have been Sarah Fuller. Now the memory of Sarah would be filled with blood and shock, Joe had finished the job that Ryan had originally stopped him from doing. Liette was just the girl in the front row with her hand up all the time, she had been of little consequence to Ryan.

"You can't have her Joe." Ryan decided quite quickly.

"Then you won't be seeing Agent Weston alive again." Joe responded without a second thought. Ryan had to learn that this game would be played by Joe's rules and right now those rules dictated that his request be filled. "I will tell you where he only when Agent Arnaut is sitting where you are now. Until then I have nothing to say to you Ryan. In fact I'm feeling rather fatigued." Joe closed up, locking himself like a safe. Ryan and Debra had watched him do this before. It wasn't a defense mechanism but rather a skill. Joe knew how to shut them out completely and once he decided that it was time to do so he was practically impenetrable until they had the key. This time the key had a name and Debra knew it was time to call her in.

Without another word Debra turned her back on Joe and the room, her hand reaching for the door so she could leave once more. "Hardy come on, we're done here." she instructed, giving no confirmation to Joe that they would procure Liette for him. However, her rushed exit with Ryan was a good enough sign for Joe who relaxed back in his chair knowing that in a few hours his wish would be fulfilled.

"So who is she?" Ryan asked Debra the moment Joe was locked behind them and out of earshot.

"One of my agents," Debra answered, turning to face Ryan as she raked her fingers through her hair. "youngest in the BAU."

"And one of Joe's-"

"We don't know that." Debra interrupted before Ryan made the accusation that she had simply been mulling over in her head. Innocent until proven guilty. It was important to not make leaps and bounds with this Carroll case even if they were always grasping at straws. They had to be careful and that meant making sure they got every piece of the story before they assumed anything.

"There are only so many reasons Joe would want to see her." Ryan had no idea who Liette Arnaut was but he was done trusting people. The last woman they had pulled in here had murdered one of their agents and kidnapped his sister. Maggie had been a ruthless villain hiding under the mask of an abused woman. Monsters hid beneath the skin of people who had appeared normal. Jacob and Paul had earned the trust of Sarah Fuller all while planning on kidnapping her for Joe's sake. Emma had done the same thing with Claire and Joey.

"She could be a victim." Debra reminded him quickly.

"And you'll put her in that room either way?"

"We don't have a choice. We have to find Mike."


	3. Chapter 3 - Retrieval

Liette stood at the front of one of the many lecture halls in the FBI academy. Her class was full despite it being eight o'clock on a friday night. These students were not like the ones she had sat with at Winslow university, they were engaged and involved instead of withdrawn and uninterested. These individuals wanted to be agents and they knew that there was no way to cut corners. Short cuts into the FBI just didn't exist. Although Liette had made and into the behavioural analysis much quicker than any of her students would she still knew the demands of the academy.

Compared to some of her students and her co-workers Liette didn't look much like a federal agent. Her blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders, falling onto the tweed material of her fitted blazer. She fit the role of professor quite nicely but such a small girl was hardly the image of a vested FBI agent who barged through doors and interrogated the worlds most dangerous criminals. Liette didn't exactly claim to be the best field agent either. She had never been terribly good at hand to hand combat and although she had passed all her firearms test she wasn't a near perfect shot like some of the other agents. She was slender though fit underneath her fitted dress shirt and black pants. She had always been somewhat clumsy which was why she tended to not move when she was lecturing, instead she stood in the centre of the hall fidgeting with her clothing as she turned her head to look around the room.

"When I say psychopath, who do you think of?" Liette asked, watching as hands began to raise. "Shout it out." she invited, waiting for someone to take the lead to get the conversation moving. Her superiors had told her to make the lectures more interactive so that was what she was trying. In reality, Liette was far more comfortable just standing up and talking for three hours. She hadn't been great at conversing with other students when she was a student herself so now as their professor she felt even more disconnected from them.

"Hannibal Lecter."

"Ted Bundy."

"That guy from American Psycho."

"Patrick Bateman!"

"Joe Carroll!"

Other names rang out after that one but Liette froze at the mention of Joe. She should have known better than to ask such a question and not expect that answer. Her mind left the room and the shouts of students who were now competing to see how many names they could call out. Some of them clearly had little experience with studying psychopaths because their classifications were completely off. Patrick Bateman was a good example, shockingly to most Hannibal Lecter was not. Lecter couldn't be classified as a pure psychopath even though he was close. Liette had studied Lecter in her undergrad but now she was applying the same sort of logic to Joe Carroll.

Manipulative. Grandiose. Egocentric. Liar.

The traits added up and Liette's brilliant mind worked through the Psychopathy Checklist Revised as if she wasn't here to lecture but she was here to score Joe. Every trait that came up seemed to fit him perfectly and it sent shivers down her spine. She had entered university all those years ago intending to study psychopaths and instead she had befriended one without noticing it. The image of Joe standing in the place she was in right now, at the front of a lecture hall not much different than this one haunted Liette as she pictured herself in the front row. She as her younger self, brown eyes but without the dark tired circles beneath them and her hair frizzed because of the lack of effort she put into it. Joe wore one of his favorite three piece suits with a hideous plum tie that would have been distracting had he not been the most capturing lecturer. He had known how to engage a classroom, not like Liette was now but with the very flow of his words. Even this apparition had Liette hanging onto him for dear life but as she pictured him speaking his eyes changed to black pits and a sinister laugh escaped those torturous lips. The image of her past became the nightmare that still haunted her years after Joe's arrest.

"Agent Arnaut?" one of her student's beckoned her from her nightmare.

"Y-Yes?" Liette shook, startled from the sudden break from her imagination. The world came spinning back in as she pushed Joe Carroll from her mind in order to hold herself in the present. "Sorry where wa-"

"Liette, I'm afraid we have to end your lecture early." Liette had been so captured by the image of Joe in her mind that she hadn't noticed Debra Parker come into the classroom. "You're all free to go, enjoy your weekend." the class hesitated but as they watched Debra march down the lecture hall stairs they moved in the opposite direction and cleared out. The chance to have a Friday night after class was still welcomed by students even if they were dedicated to being here.

"Debra?" Liette's face distorted in confusion. Her eyes blinked violently, trying to force herself into the present moment and away from her thoughts. Liette's vivid imagination was something that had been seen as dangerous in the field, especially when she was placed in an interrogation room with a possible suspect. Her tendency to slip into a world outside of their own was not unnoticed by Debra and therefore she had learnt to give Liette the time to come out of her daydreams when needed. Unfortunately today they did not have the time. Every minute wasted here was a minute they weren't finding Mike. Joe said they had less than twenty four hours which meant they needed to move. It would take them over an hour to get back to Richmond in order to see Joe and who knew how long Joe would toy with them before giving up Mike's location.

"We have to get moving. We need you in Richmond."

Liette knew what Debra was saying without her saying it. She knew exactly who was in Richmond and he was the reason she didn't want to be there. Liette had been offered the opportunity to be on the team assigned to the case when Carroll had first escaped but she had told Debra to take Mike instead since she had classes she wanted to teach. It had been a perfectly good excuse at the time and it had dodged the real issue Liette had with going to Richmond. She had not seen Joe in almost ten years. The last time she had laid eyes upon him was at his trial. She had been a student then and she had sat at the back of the courtroom in hopes that he wouldn't see her. Liette had forced herself through the trial so she could see first hand that her professor was actually the monster that the media was making him out to be.

As a profiler, it was in Debra's nature to assess Liette's body language and movements to try and figure out what was going on in the young woman's head. Debra knew Liette was difficult to read on a regular basis. The girl's eyes shifted about the room but they never fell upon Debra or connected with her at all. She avoided all contact she she withdrew into her mind once more. Debra watched as Liette folded her arms across her chest and turned nervously to the front of the room, closing herself up completely.

"We need to go now." Debra said, attempting to summon Liette's attention back to her. She assumed Liette had figured out this was about Joe and that her nervousness was either based on not wanting to see him or just the opposite. If she was an accolade this would be her part to play in the story and if she worshipped Joe the idea of being reunited with him was probably thrilling to her. Debra had had Mitchell check the prison logs for Liette's name but it didn't appear that she had visited Joe while he was in prison. That was a good sign but it didn't rid Debra of her worries.

Debra wouldn't accuse Liette of anything, not until there was evidence. Debra felt protective over her agents, like a mother over her children, which was why she had come to Quantico alone to pick up Liette. She knew Hardy would be down Liette's throat by now to get answers from the girl but that would only make her close up. Debra had been spending the past year and a half building rapport with Liette so she figured she would be better dealing with her alone.

"Weston's been taken."

Liette whipped back around to stare at Debra, her eyes searching for a look that made this all a dream or a lie. Liette didn't have many friends in the bureau but Mike had been one of the few to give her a chance. He put up with her moments of silence and actually claimed to enjoy the logical rants she went on from time to time. Liette had joined him for drinks after work on occasion and they had begun to walk their dogs together every chance they got. Her heart sunk as she looked into Debra's eyes and saw that this wasn't a joke.

"Lets go then." Liette said, moving to grab her computer bag from the desk behind her. She swung the strap over her shoulder and then waited for Debra to lead the way out. "This is about Carroll, right?" Liette asked, careful to not say his first name and allow herself such torture as to slip into thinking of him as just Joe. He was Joe Carroll the serial killer and possible cult creator, he was not the Joe she had known. The Joe she had known had never truly existed.

Debra cast her eyes back at Liette before she started up the stairs towards the doors of the lecture hall. Her vehicle was parked just outside of the building, waiting for them to take them back to Richmond. She nodded at Liette's question but hesitated in telling her anything. Debra hated this feeling of being withdrawn with a member of her team. Unlike Liette, Debra had always been very open with the people she worked with. People knew she liked to play by the rules and that she was easy to approach when a problem came up. Debra had proved herself amongst the supervisory agents but tried to not play politics in the office because she found that it distracted her from her actual task. She had never been so quiet around Liette, especially when they had so much to talk about. On any other case the two of them would have been going through all the details but right now Debra was apprehensive about what she should actually share with Liette incase the worst possible scenario was actually true.

"So why do you need me? You have half the team up there?" Liette probed for an answer.

More hesitation. Debra's lips opened and closed without a sound. The woman let out an sigh that fell to the ground with the weight of a rock. She stopped in the hall and turned to Liette, realizing she couldn't just ignore all her questions for the next hour and a half. "Carroll has made a deal to tell us where Mike is but he wants to talk to you first."

Liette didn't move from her spot despite the fact that Debra began to start walking again. She stopped only when she realized Liette had become a frozen statue in the middle of the hall. Absolute horror flashed through Liette's eyes like a lightening bolt. Debra stepped back towards Liette to try and get her to budge but the young woman remained stationary as if she'd looked into the eyes of a gorgon and been turned to stone. Her chest hardly moved to let air into her lungs and that was because she had practically stopped breathing in her shock.

"Liette we don't have much time." Debra urged, trying to break the girl from her position in the hall.

"He asked for me specifically?" Liette asked.

"Yes, and he won't talk until you're in the room with him."

"I have to...but...I-" Liette's thoughts jumbled in her head, spinning her around like a child's top. After that day in the courtroom she had sworn to never speak to Joe again. Part of her had wanted to go to the prison to get answers but she knew nothing he could ever say would ease the hurt she felt. There had been such betrayal finding out that someone who was supposedly your friend was murdering young women just like you. Liette had been no different from any of Joe's victims, they had been young university students, vulnerable and alone.

"Liette." Debra's voice hardened slightly, knowing that she had to be firm to get them moving. "We don't have time. Mike will die if we don't do this." Liette couldn't say no, she was trapped in this situation despite her rights to refuse to be used in such a way. She would not forfeit Mike's life for a personal promise she had made herself years ago. She didn't want to sit across from the monster but she really had no choice. She stepped from her spot in the hallway, breaking free of the frozen feeling in her legs. She wanted to run in the other direction but he propelled herself forward, following Debra to the car. The next hour wouldn't last long enough, all she had to do was close her eyes and she'd be placed in a cage with the man she feared the most.


	4. Chapter 4 - Frozen Heart

**I'd like to thank everyone for the support of bringing this story back to life. The first few chapters will seem somewhat familiar as they fit the same kind of structure as the original three but I promise once we get going this is going to be a whole new ballgame. As per usual I love and appreciate any and all reviews, they help my muse and help me improve so keep them coming! Enjoy! **

The statue of a girl stood in front of the windowless door, the metal structure the only thing standing between her and the man inside. Debra had explained very little on the ride to Richmond and the quiet had let Liette's thoughts spiral. Like a great tidal wave looming over her head, Liette could feel her emotions waiting to break her sanity. Liette could picture him already as he was now and not how he had been in the past. He had aged well despite his imprisonment. His face had been plastered all over the news and the announcements at bureau after his escape. It had been easy to switch the channel or walk past the bulletins to escape him but once she opened the door she wouldn't be able to switch the image if Joe off anymore, he'd be before her in the flesh once again.

"You're good to go." Ryan spoke as he stood behind Liette, observing her hesitation and wondering if he could trust her or not. Debra had introduced them before they had marched down the hall but Liette had only shook Ryan's hand and said nothing else. She recognized Ryan from years ago when he had sat in on Joe's lectures, using Joe as an expert on Poe instead of seeing him as the culprit. She might have told Ryan that they had met before but her head was in a different place. The few words she had exchanged since arriving at the prison had been with her fellow agents who were all eager to see Mike back in their company. They had been a reminder as to why she had to go through the door.

Liette's hands trembled as she reached into the pocket of her blazer to pull out a pair of thin black glasses. She used her grip on them to steady her hands before she slipped the frames onto her face. Her eyes adjusted to the new clearness provided by the lenses. She used her glasses to read but they were a recent addition to her appearance, one that she was not used to and one that Joe would not be used to either. She meant to disguise herself, even just a little, in order to separate herself from the person who had seen Joe Carroll as a friend. There was a reason Joe had asked for her and Liette could only assume that it had something to do with their past. It was a past that she had so desperately tried to let go of but as she opened the door she felt herself dragged back to the very first day she had stepped in Joe's classroom.

_Waiting a year to attend university after her high school classmates had rushed off had practically killed Liette so she had been booming with excitement the day she stepped out of her mother's car in the parking lot of her residence. With the help from some upperclassmen her stuff was moved into her room and she was ready for her first class. Unfortunately frosh week rarely includes classes and Liette's shyness had made her a victim of wall flowering. It was an uncomfortable first week, one that had dulled her excitement for university and almost had her calling home every night wishing she was back in Louisiana. Her mother had talked her down, urging her that things would get better once classes started and luckily they did. Her first class happened to be Joe's. _

_Introduction to Romantic Literature was one of the courses that had just happened to fit Liette's packed psychology schedule. All universities made students take electives and although the romantic era was hardly Liette's favorite writing period she had been successful enough in English during high school that she assumed Professor Carroll's class would be an easy grade. Liette's mind was constantly focused on keeping her average, knowing that she needed her scholarships to remain at Winslow. With her grades and SAT scores she should have been attending an ivy league school like Harvard or Princeton but the thought of the school debt she'd acquire had turned her to the modest halls of Winslow university. Besides, the school put her in Virginia which is where she hoped to end up once she had the chance to apply to the academy at the FBI. _

_At ten to twelve on Monday morning Liette found her spot at the front of the lecture hall where she unpacked her bag by carefully placing her notebook and ballpoint pen on the small school desk in front of her. Her classmates filed in, picking seats closer to the back and around the centre of the room. A few fell into the seats in the front as well but as per usual Liette was isolated without a soul beside her. A few final students trickled in, finding seats around the room before they were followed by a man at least ten years older than them._

_"Good afternoon everyone," Joe's British accent had the attention of many of the girls in the room as they straightened their shoulders and fixed their hair. Liette glanced around her, always observing her surroundings and the people who filled them. It was her mother who had suggested she should be a profiler because she was always aware of people's behaviours, even the smallest of things._

_Liette watched as Joe placed his briefcase down upon the desk, clicking it open to reveal the contents but not taking anything out of it just yet. She saw the meticulous organization of the man's bag just from the way nothing spilled out when he laid either side open on the desk. Each book, pen and piece of paper was tucked neatly into a space that held it in place until he needed it. Such organization was something Liette could appreciate, for her book bag was laid out in the same way. _

_"I'm professor Carrol, you're welcome to call me Joe." he said with a smile "And this is romantic literature so if you were looking for political science I believe that is one floor above us." he teased with a charming grin, getting the chuckle of a few students around him. Liette's lips curled into a small tight smile as Joe's eyes came upon her. She glanced away after only a second, feeling the heat of his gaze leave her only a moment later. "I've posted the book list online, there is an anthology that has almost all the readings we'll be doing and then I'd like you to pick up the complete works of Edgar Alan Poe." _

_The clicking of keyboards and a flourish of pens signaled that many of the students sitting behind Liette hadn't picked up their books. Many students waited until they knew they would need the texts before purchasing them but Liette had been too eager. Her bookshelf in her dorm room was already organized by her classes and each of her textbooks had been cracked open at least once last week when she had been avoiding the frosh week activities._

_"I won't keep you for the full lecture time today." Excitement from the back row rose in a dance of whispers but Liette's shoulders dropped in contrast. "I want to outline the course for you and then we'll jump right in next week." Professor Carroll explained before he quickly began to go through the different topics he was going to cover. Names like Emerson and Thoreau came up and then Joe spent a great deal of time talking about Poe and the poems he would likely focus on. He detailed his expectations for essays and the reflection papers to come before he bid the class a farewell. Everyone packed up quickly but Liette left her notebook on the table before nervously rising. She had heard from other professors that it was appreciated when students introduced themselves. Liette rarely introduced herself to anyone unless it was for her own personal gain. It was advantageous for her to know Joe and have him know her but she still hesitated before walking up._

_"Professor Carroll." Liette's voice was quiet but calm as she came to the front of the room, ignoring the last few students who made their way out of the room. "I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Liette Arnaut." Liette's young hand extended to be greeted by Joe's who shook with one but clasped his other hand on top of their grasp. _

_"I insist you just call me Joe." he said, holding their grasp as he looked down into her eyes with an intent gaze that made her look down uncomfortably. "It's a please to meet you, I hope you enjoy the class Liette." her name was like sugar on his lips, it sounded sweeter than it ever had before. Liette was used to the cajun or Acadian accents of her family and her neighbors so her name sounded different in Joe's British tone, so different that she couldn't help but play it over in her head._

_Liette._

"Liette."

Ten years had passed but Liette didn't need to look at the man at the table to recognize his voice. She had been staring at her feet when she entered the room but her name on his lips once more beckoned her eyes upwards this time. Joe's begging gaze caught her as she stared across the room at him, hardly believing that this moment was real. His chains shook against his trembling hands, causing Liette to jump slightly as the metal clanged against the table.

He was just Joe. Underneath the orange jumpsuit and the metal chains, Liette could still see the man who had always into that classroom over ten years ago. She could see him in one of his three piece suits and the horrible ties he had bought himself. She could picture a piece of chalk between his finger tips, waiting for him to aggressively scribe something on a board behind him. She could see it all but that wasn't who he was anymore.

"God, you're more beautiful than I expected." Liette felt a chill run down her spine as his words, like melting ice against her backbone that made her whole body stiffen. She was a statue again. The door closed behind her as Ryan and Debra gave Joe his part of the deal, an audience with Liette. It was up to Liette to retrieve the information about Mike so the others could immediately go find him. Right now, Liette was useless to the team as she stood still on the far size of the room.

For a moment Joe did not say another word. His eyes moved from Liette's to study her completely, ignoring the frightened look on her face to take in her beauty. He had been proud to hear she had become an agent just like she had wanted to but as he looked at her now he found it hard to picture her with a gun and a badge. It wasn't until his eyes glimpsed the shine of gold tucking out from underneath her blazer that he was actually able to physically see her with the latter. Still, the idea of a gun in her hands seemed ridiculous to him. Liette was a star, radiant and burning with passion and light so the image of her with a deadly weapon just didn't match in Joe's perception.

Liette could feel his eyes all over her and it was in a manner that she hadn't processed before. Her lack of social skills had not made her a hit with men but her good looks had seen her waking up tangled with one or two in the past. She knew how it felt to be looked at by a lustful man but this was even more powerful. She could not bring herself to look at Joe's eyes in fear that she'd see the predator that he really was. She wanted to go back to the thoughts of the man back in the classroom.

"Come, sit with me."

_"Come, sit with me." Joe invited, happy to see a visitor to his office hours just two weeks into classes. He was not at all surprised or unhappy that the visitor was his most keen student. Liette stood in the doorway of his office with her arms across her chest holding her notebook tightly against herself before she stepped in and took a seat opposite from him. "How can I help you?"_

_"You might not be able to, or want to for that matter. I just...it's a shot in the dark." Liette nervously tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear before she continued. "I was reading ahead and I wanted to discuss Evangeline with you. You see I'm from New Orleans an-"_

_"This discussion is much bigger than the type I usually take during office hours." Joe interrupted._

_"Oh." Liette stood, feeling suddenly embarrassed. Her face continued to flush with a red hue that burned against her skin. She regretting the decision of coming here. She should have just called him to discuss the poem with her mother like she always did but she had been hoping for a conversation with someone who actually had some sort of idea about what she was rambling about."I'm sorry." Liette added as she began to shuffle away from Joe's desk._

_"But if you're free in an hour I would be pleased to discuss it with you over tea." Joe stood, following Liette's movement as he came to stand beside her in the space._

_"Tea?"_

_"Or coffee, if you'd prefer." the man chuckled. _

_"I wouldn't want to impose." Liette shook her head. _

_"I offered." Joe reminded her, tapping the top of her books with his finger as he smiled down at her. "The cafe on Broad street? It's just five minutes from here, I can meet you there."_

It took a moment but Liette shook the memory from her head and moved forward, her hands reaching for the top of her seat before she could actually reach it. Her grasp came down upon the cold metal and she held it like a crutch. Slowly she dragged the chair back away from the desk, feeling Joe watching her every movement before she sat down across from him. A moment later she allowed her eyes to raise from the silver surface of the table to connect with his eyes for the first time.

The wave crashed down, threatening to drown her. Her breathing became shallow as she struggled through the moment, her lips opening and closing as she took in each breath as if it was her last. She could feel his hands on her throat even though she was confidently out of his reach. His grasp on her existed in just one look but she couldn't break away, not this time. He held her gaze with admiration and exhileration, a light in his eyes appearing in the spaces that had been so void of life in all his dealings with the agents and Ryan Hardy. As Joe's gaze sucked the life out of Liette, hers rejuvenated him.

"Hello Joe." Liette finally spoke, her words full of hesitation and doubt as she looked at him. She knew that everyone was watching via the video camera in the corner of the room. By now Liette had figured out they probably suspected her as one of his accolades but she wasn't here to deliver a message or play her part in Joe's story. Joe was clearly inclined to write her in but Liette would have preferred to have been left out altogether.

"I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it is to see you again."

"Where is Agent Weston?" Liette asked, focusing on the task at hand.

"I'd very much like to talk to you." Joe said, ignoring the situation they sat in. In his eyes they were practically back at the coffee shop, sitting comfortably in each other's presence.

"I ned to know where Mike is." Liette repeated.

"Mike?" Red hot jealousy ripped through Joe's voice. His fidgeting hands balled into fists, rock hard fists of fury and rage. Liette felt the constricting grip on her throat again as she watched the man transform before her. Polite, kind and courteous Joe slipped away, the light in his eyes fading into darkness for a moment.

"Agent Weston." Liette corrected quickly.

"You called him Mike." Joe's jealousy was not soothed so easily.

"We're colleagues." Liette replied on cue "He's my friend." she added. Her softness reflected out to Joe and allowed him to examine himself in contrast. His fists loosened, his palms flattening on the table once more as he leaned back and straightened his spine. He chuckled to himself for a moment, breaking his gaze from Liette as he amused himself with what had just happened. He had reacted like a lovesick school boy, possessive and jealous. Such a gut reaction was to be laughed at but he wouldn't have it happen again.

"Please."

The word fell from Liette's lips, a soft snowflake melting in the air as it reached Joe's ears. The chill of her voice came out of desperation and fear. Despite picturing them in the coffee shop, deep down Joe knew their relationship had been ultimately changed the moment she had found out about him. She was not here because she missed him or because she had wanted to relive old times. She was here to save her colleague. Her friend. Still, Joe's request remained.

"I'll tell you where Agent Weston is if you stay and talk."

Not an inch of Liette wanted to remain in this room any longer but she would not have Mike's blood on her hands. "Okay." she agreed with a nod. "Tell me where he is."

"Oh no, it doesn't work like that. What would stop you from just running out of me?" Joe shook his head. Did she think him a fool? He had outsmarted the police and her fellow agents time and time again. He would not find himself in a trap where he came out empty handed. He'd have his conversation with Liette and he'd ensure by the end of it she'd want to come back and speak some more.

Liette looked around the room, blank walls giving her no reassurance except for the camera that sat in the corner. She could not see the people watching the feed but she knew they were all gathered around monitors in the other room just hanging on her every word.

"Fine." Liette said before exhaling. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I'd like to catch up and well, I'd like to explain some things to you." Joe said, his lips forming a smile as he leaned back and relaxed into his chair. Agent Weston still had time which meant he had some time of his own. By the hands on the clock on Liette's wrist Joe knew they had hours to kill, hours that he'd fill before he gave Liette the answer that she wanted. Agent Weston would just have to hold his breath and wait.


	5. Chapter 5 - Things We Lost

**Edit: won't let me link my playlist but if you go onto 8tracks it is just titled "Trigger Girl" for anyone wanting to listen to the Joe x Liette playlist I made.**

Joe had waited for this moment, previously wondering if it would come before he made it happen. Every time he was permitted a visitor he had wondered if Liette's face would ever appear across from him through the glass. A glimpse of blonde hair had been enough to get him excited but he had sat down disappointed every time to find a different face staring back at him. In all his years in prison she had not visited him once. At times when he had been alone in his cell he would become consumed by his thoughts of her. He had never lost his sanity or hallucinated but he had entertained himself with daydreams of her presence.

As Joe sat across from Liette now he realized the real thing was nothing like his day dreams. His hands were shackled, unable to move to brush the loose piece of hair out of her face or to hold her hand. He'd become trapped like Tantalus, forced to look at what he longed for the most but unable to reach it. She was right there. She was so close. If she made a mistake like Claire had he'd be able to grab her but it meant she'd be taken away from him. Joe had to play his cards right, he had to stay in control.

Liette waited with baited breath, trembling slightly as she sat across from the beast. His eyes had softened once again, knowing he was getting what he wanted. It was difficult to look at him without seeing two people. At first glance Liette was dragged back to the memories of her first two years of university, when she ended up taking Joe's classes because he was teaching them and not because she actually needed the english credits. Her vivid imagination transformed the interrogation room into his office, replacing the blank white walls with oak bookshelves, bursting with a perfectly organized library. The table became a matching desk and Joe's wrists were not bound by metal cuffs but by his favorite leather band watch. But a closer look at the man across from her stripped the office away from Liette's imagination with a forceful tug. She was dragged back into the world that was her reality where newspaper headlines and television bulletins plagues her mind with words describing the man that Joe actually was.

Killer.

Murderer.

Monster.

No amount of light reflecting in his chocolate brown eyes could lighten the words the described his true nature. No facade placed upon this room by her mind could make Liette forget the images of the disfigured and mutilated girls that had been Joe's victims. The dried black circles of blood around their gouged eyes and the slices through their clothing and flesh that had been done by his hands. These were not memories that Liette attached to the man with the leather band watch but they belonged to the man across from her and she could no longer deny that they were the same person.

The lion sat across from the lamb and his predatory eyes watched every hitch of breath that seemed to catch in her throat. He imagined her heart beating unevenly, not unlike the broken heart of Ryan Hardy. He could see the uneven rising and falling of her chest beneath her perfectly pressed blouse. Joe watched every detail of Liette and in return Liette did the same to him. It took her a moment to adjust in their situation but with a deep breath she dragged her confidence back to her. She had sat with men like Joe before and did not flinch so she reasoned she could be the same way with Joe despite their history. She would not be a lamb; she'd be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Liette had not had the chance to study Joe outside of this moment but she hardly imagined he acted the same way with Hardy or even Debra. Mike had called her a few weeks ago to talk about the case (a conversation she rushed though because of her disay) and had explained how frustrating it was to work against Joe. Joe's control despite his incarceration was a roadblock to the agents investigating him and the cult. Liette had tried to repress the conversation with Mike as much as she could but now she was drawing it back to make inferences about the situation. She was well aware of her own historical connection with Joe but she didn't understand why it made her important. He had had hundreds of students before and after her and unlike Sarah Fuller he hadn't turned her into a target. He had finished the job he had started with Sarah and now moved onto Liette but the answer as to why was still unclear.

"What do you want to know Joe?" it was her first sentence said to him without a wavering voice or a sharp breath. Joe noticed the change and leaned forward, seeing if he could test the boundaries in her fearlessness. Liette resisted the temptation to lean back away from him. She remained out of his grasp, placing her arms on the table in front of her knowing that if she moved just a few more inches towards him he'd be able to graze his fingers across her arm which was precisely why she watched the distance between them carefully.

"Everything." Joe answered. Despite the ridiculousness of the request Liette could tell by Joe's tone that he was speaking truly. Locked in this prison, he didn't have much better to do other than to wait for a moment when he could talk to Hardy or one of the agents. Now Joe had his moment to talk to someone who was more of his past than even Ryan was. He had the chance to relive some of the days of his freedom with Liette and it was a chance he would hold onto until it was stripped from him. He held his bargaining chip in his mind, the location of Agent Weston would come out once he was done with Liette.

"Congratulations on making the bureau. I'm so proud of you."

Like poison his words sunk into her skin and made her feel sick. Years ago she craved to hear those words coming from any of her professors but especially Joe. She had always been keen on authority and searched for approval from anyone who she saw as above her. That had continued on in her work with Debra and her other supervisors but Liette had matured with them. She still sought out Debra's approval but she no longer based her happiness on whether or not it was present. Things had been different with Joe.

_"So I did something crazy." Liette announced as Joe placed her regular hot coco on the table before her. He looked down at her, a grin placed on his face as he moved to sit across from the blonde that seemed peppy with excitement._

_"You? Do something something crazy? I don't believe it." Joe chuckled, raising his tea to his lips as he waited for Liette's news. She grinned wildly at his teasing and the pleasant smile that hid slightly behind the rim of his teacup._

_"I've joined a writer's society." Liette smiled "A club."_

_"You're in a club?" Joe continued to tease, placing his teacup on the table as he laughed a little bit. "You mean you're going to go out and socialize with your classmates without being forced?" his eyebrow raised as he jested once more. Liette's grin dropped at his words, feeling like a taunted child on the playground. _

_"That's unfair." she countered with a pour. _

_"It's true." he quipped quickly. He reached across the table and touched the top of her hand with his fingertips, trying to soothe her hurt ego."I'm not shaming you, I benefit from your open schedule and I do enjoy these get togethers. I'm just happy to see your branching out." It had been three months and Liette only knew half the names of the people who she lived with in residence and past that she knew very little about them as individuals. She had spoken to classmates about group projects but never gone out to the pub for a drink after lecture. The only person she had actually become close to in the past three months was Joe. After their first discussion at the coffee shop, Liette had been surprised how easily she opened up with him. Joe's words seemed to peel back the curtains that she hid behind. It had become impossible to describe Liette as shy or quiet when she was observed in her regular seat in the cafe with Joe across from her. She bloomed in their conversations, laughing and conversing for hours before one of them had to end it. Joe had become the friend she was supposed to have met in residence._

_"I'm proud of you." _

"What of your writing? Did it ever go anywhere?" Joe asked, trying to learn about Liette one question at a time.

"I stopped." she said bluntly. She had left the writer's society after Joe's arrest and dropped out of the English course she had been taking the next semester. With Joe's absence the professor would have been different but Liette had known being in that classroom would have made her think of him more than she already had been.

"It's a shame."

"I hear you haven't stopped."

"You've heard about my new book?" Joe perked up slightly, excited to take the conversation in a direction that he hadn't intended to just yet. His second book would be a good old fashioned adventure story of good versus evil. He had heard Hardy into the hero and made Claire his complicated love interest. It was all information Liette had heard from Mike. "Well I'm delighted, I hope you're not offended that you weren't introduced in the very beginning, I do promise you play a very important part."

"What part?" Liette's question was hard and direct as she resisted being pulled into Joe's world. She didn't enjoy the part she was already playing in this so the suggestion that her involvement would only increase set her off. "What do you have planned?"

"Oh Liette, you know I hate spoilers."

"Don't play games with me." the agent in the girl he once knew was blossoming before her. Just as Liette saw two different versions of Joe, Joe was beginning to see that Liette had gone through her own metamorphosis. She appeared to still be the slightly reserved, bookish girl that he had spent afternoons with and had enjoyed teaching but underneath that layer of an old soul was a girl who been hardened by tragedy. He knew the reveal of his true nature had likely burned Liette and left her scared. He saw that scarring now, coming out as she demanded answers like all the other agents who had sat across from him in this room.

"You have certainly changed." Joe noted with a sigh. "You've become quite the woman." she was not a young girl anymore, not bright eyed and moldable like she had once been. He could remember days when he had spun her thoughts into strings of gold with just the mere weight of his words. She had hung off the movement of his lips as if they held the answers of the world. She hadn't always agreed with him but she had always listened obediently and fairly. They had had debates not quarrels and disagreements not fights. Now Joe could see the fighter in her but he knew she'd lash out at him with words not actions.

"You wanted to catch up. Catch me up." she stuck to her request, her brown eyes becoming as dark as Joe's as her lids narrowed and her gaze remained on him. In the other room her fellow agents and Ryan Hardy speculated about every word that left her lips and every movement that her body made around Joe. Liette's presence had begun to reassure Debra that she was not a mole within the FBI, she watched the video and saw the young woman she had worked with for over a year now. Liette was not worshipping Joe, she was challenging him and Joe didn't like it.

"It's not that easy."

"Make it easy."

Joe's face became like stone, getting annoyed with the game that Liette was playing. He didn't feel like he was in as much control as he should have been so he needed to end this nonsense. "I don't appreciate how you're speaking to me Liette. We are friends."

"We were friends." Liette corrected "And then I found out you murdered my classmates! All the while telling me I needed to be careful on campus and to call you if I ever needed help." Her audience looked at each other with this new bit of information. The question lingered in all of them: how closer had Liette actually been to Joe? What if this was all just an act? Maggie had come in in the same way and fooled them all. Liette was a genius, knowledgable about behaviour and personality, what was to say she couldn't have been faking all of this? The others watched as the young woman lifted off of her seat slightly, her body arching to try and intimidate Joe as she shouted. It mobilized the others in the room who worried they'd need to pull Liette out. They were already in trouble with Joe's broken fingers, they didn't need another assault.

"You killed girls just like me!"

"They weren't like you!" Joe shouted back, triggered by Liette's words and how wrong they were. She sunk back slightly, his shout startling her and the clanging of his chains pulling as he lifted himself off of his own seat, putting himself as eye level with Liette. "Nothing like you at all. Liette, that was the whole point." he was practically pleading with her to look at him and to understand but his words made no sense to her.

"What?" she reacted, her eyes filled with confusion as she stared back at him.

Ryan threw the door open. He and Debra had moved through the hall quickly so they had lost the end of the conversation but Ryan refused to be left in the dark. He remained in the doorway, Debra peering over his left shoulder while they both caught Joe's eyes. The man glared at them, annoyed by the interruption but dragged back into the situation by Liette who slammed her hands down on the table as she stood up.

"What do you mean!? What was the point?!"

"Arnaut..." Debra said softly from behind her, thinking it was time to movie Liette from the situation.

"This isn't right." Joe twitched slightly. "I don't want to tell you when you're angry, you'll misunderstand. Besides I can't skip ahead like this. It's too soon." Joe's perfectionism sealed his lips but Liette wanted to know what was going on. She watched as Joe's eyes fell down away from her and he began to lock himself away in that made of silence he often retreated to.

"Joe!" the young woman growled at him, the wolf showing it's teeth off to the lion. Joe's eyes rose once more, narrowing as he found Liette glaring at him. She had risen from her chair completely and leaned over the table slightly to appear dominant over him. She was just a few inches away from his grasp. He knew if he moved his hands to try and grab her the chains would stop them from reaching an inch of her skin. He simply had to look at her. Liette's figure was looming but still petite and not terribly intimidating. He had never seen her angry like this but it only took him a second to decide that he didn't like it. This was not the girl he knew.

"You'll find agent Weston just off of Killbourn island in five hours. You'll need to get to him before the tide gets to high." Joe's lips sealed in a straight line, locking tight as he gave Liette the information she originally wanted but keeping the secret he had almost exposed. "I'd like to return to my cell now to get some sleep."

Liette's hands slammed on the table again but they did not remain on the metal for more than a moment. "Arnaut lets go." Debra pulled her agent back, only to be aggressively shoved away. "Liette!" Debra shouted, her superiority showing as she gave her orders. She would not have more disorder on their team when one of their agents was missing.

Debra placed her hand on Liette's shoulder once more, spinning her back to look at her. Liette was seething with raw anger, drenched in the confusion from the answers she was not receiving. Debra wanted to believe that this was all real but she had to be cautious. If Liette's little spat here with Joe had all been part of the plan it would only distract the team and they didn't need that. It was time to focus back on the task at hand; no more reunion for Liette and her professor. "Lets go get Weston." Debra said to Liette. She had been studying Joe for weeks and she knew that no matter how much Liette screamed at the man he would not give her the answers she was looking for tonight. Whatever Joe had said to Liette would remain unfinished for now but he wasn't going anywhere so it was a topic they could revisit later.

Joe turned his head and looked to the wall, staring at nothing but avoiding the burning look that Liette gave him from over her shoulder. Her chest heaved now, her breathing uneven but heavy. Not a bit of air caught in her throat as her exhales entered the room like gusts of wind from her tight chest. She wanted to keep fighting but Debra's voice beckoned her once more. "Liette, Mike." Debra uttered quickly, dragging Liette out of her rage and to the task at hand. In reality they didn't need Liette to go with them on the rescue mission but Debra knew it was the only way to get Liette out of this room and right now that seemed like a better idea than letting her stay here with Joe.

Joe refused to cast his eyes back to his company so Liette kept her head and body turned from him before she stormed past Hardy and Debra in the doorway, her shoulder colliding with the doorframe as she clumsily stumbled out of the room. Pain shot through her arm but she kept moving until she reached the opposite wall, slamming her fist into the concrete, bloodying her knuckles with just one hit. Dealing with emotions had never been her strong suit so this act of overt aggression was all she could do to get the frustration out. The pain of her shoulder and her fist combining into one was too much so she let out a whimper. The sound of her crying out in pain forced Joe to peer out the open door, his chains shaking violently as he yelled out to her "Love stop! Please!"

Joe's shout was not one of anger but worry. His voice shook with a pain that Ryan wasn't sure he could actually feel. Joe's outbursts had always been of rage and yet here he sounded broken. Ryan stepped back from the doorway observing Joe as he looked out to the sliver of the hallway he could see and the glimpse of Liette turning from the wall. Their eyes connected and Ryan swore he could see an order being given just in the way Joe looked at Liette. Debra watched the scene in a similar manner and felt her doubts rushing back in. Much can be said with just one look but no one was sure what Joe was saying with his.

"I promise it'll be okay." Joe spoke once more, his eyes and his voice directed at Liette and Liette alone. Before he could say another word Ryan moved and slammed the door shut, the sound shaking through the hall as Joe was locked away from them and cut off before he could say anything else to Liette.

"What was that?" Ryan's attention turned to Liette who had slid down the wall, clutching her split knuckles as she held back tears. "What the hell was that?!" Ryan crossed the hallway and leaned down, grabbing the material of Liette's blazer to pull her back up off the ground, bringing her to eye level so he could demand answers from her.

"W-what?" Liette's voice shook with confusion, her confidence wilting away like a flower in the winter. She had held herself together for much longer than expected but now she came out of it all a broken and tortured girl.

"He called you love. What does he want you to do? What is going on?" Ryan clarified, his fingers tightening on the material of Liette's clothing to hold her close, trying to intimidate .

"Nothing." Liette shook her head furiously, shifting her body to try and break free from Ryan's grasp. "Wait...you still think that I'm...Debra I wouldn't...I'm not." Liette had understood the first round of suspicion that must have gone through every agent when they heard Joe request for her but after that meeting Liette thought their worries would have dissipated it. Clearly it had not.

"We need to go find Weston." Debra deflected. "Liette I think you should stay here, with protection." Debra meant supervision. It was practically an answer to the question that Liette feared. Did they think she might be a follower? Right now they weren't sure but they were leaning towards yes. They didn't trust her to go find Mike because they thought she was one of Joe's. "Get yourself caught up on the case." Debra suggested, trying to make it look like she was being supportive and not constricting. In reality she was backing Liette into a corner after dragging her here. Her situation with Joe was a complicated one and they couldn't be too careful. Liette couldn't be caged like Joe but she could be cornered into a small enough space to be controlled. For now they had no other option.


	6. Chapter 6 - Leading Man

**First of all, I've finally decided that this version takes place between episode six (the fall) and episode seven (let me go). So Paul and Jacob are on their own, Emma has Joey, and Joe has yet to call in Olivia Warren. I will use some of the plot lines from season one from here on out but clearly they will be delayed and won't work exactly the same.**

**Secondly, I'd like to thank everyone for the words of encouragement I've received since bringing this story back. I'm also glad to see that many feel the same way I do with the old story. I've reread the original Trigger Girl several times and I cringe when I get to certain parts. I rushed chapters to get more reviews and I forced a lot of things I wish I hadn't. That being said, I'm thrilled to be writing this again, no other piece of fanfiction that I've ever written has meant so much to me and that is mainly because of all the love and support I receive from you guys. So thank you, you made this rewrite happen. I hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

With a team rushing off to Killbourn Island, Liette was left under the watchful eyes of agents who had been warned about the uncertainty of her loyalty. She had been barred from the solitary corridors of the prison, kept far away from Joe who had gone back to his room to settle into his bed for at least a few hours. Liette wanted nothing more than to finish her conversation with him, even if that meant being in his presence again.

It was as if she stood on the axis of the world and it was spinning beneath her. Absolute chaos erupted around her and she grasped desperately for any stable part of her reality that might allow her to remain in control. She sat down alone at a table in the operations room, her eyes falling upon the evidence board that was displayed at the front of the room.

The board was filled with pictures of Joe's followers, unfamiliar faces scattered amongst ones she did recognize: Joe's victims. With Sarah Fuller included there was an unlucky thirteen of them. Their age and their blonde hair linked them together and of course the ease that Joe had in gaining access to them. They hadn't all been in his classes but they had all been students at Winslow. Joe was a hunter and he had hunted within him comfort zone at the university. It was the beginning of the profile and with her expertise Liette could have kept going but she found herself sidetracked as she looked to the centre of the board, her eyes focusing on Joe. They hadn't used his mug shot but his employee picture from Winslow.

There was no denying that Joe was handsome but looking at the picture Liette knew that it was more than that. Joe had a brilliant mind, filled with riddles and secrets that had been the forbidden wine of his young female students and Liette had tasted that wine more than most. Liette could remember Sarah Fuller participating in class, hanging onto Joe's words and taking in his encouragement with enthusiasm but as far as Liette knew, she had been the only student to actually spend time with Joe outside of class.

_The quad had been covered in snow over the Christmas break and Liette had returned from her warm southern home to enjoy her first snowfall. Classes wouldn't return for a few days but that had not stopped Liette from enjoying being back in Virginia. She had received a lovely surprise from her parents for Christmas; a camera that she swore had cost too much but had accepted anyway. Now, her first real encounter with snow was the first thing she would capture in the lens. _

_While most students were spending the morning and afternoon tucked in their warm beds some had come out to start snowball fights or lace up their skates for a bit of fooling around on the pond. Liette had bundled herself up in as much winter gear as possible before swinging her new camera over her neck, heading out of her dorm to enjoy the quad. As per usual she was on her own but she had no problem with that, she never had. Her camera was a new warming company and as she starting to take pictures and experiment with the settings she realized she had needed this machine long before this moment. _

_The snow lightly fell around her, dampening her hat as it melted but not enough to wet the hair underneath. Her curls bounced as she moved along the plowed sidewalk, careful of any ice patches that would likely land her on her backside. She skaters caught her attention, different sized figures gliding along the glassy surface with bright smiles. It looked like so much fun but Liette had tried rollerblading before and skates looked similar so she assumed the outcome would be just as disastrous. Her first time on rollerblades had caused the only bone breaking she had ever had to deal with in her nineteen years of life. Snapping a quick picture of the skaters she let go of her envy only to continue moving through the quad to get another picture. _

_Liette's eye was pressed firmly up against the view finder as she snapped a few pictures of the snow covered statue of the school's founder. Her focus blurred and her shot was ruined as he jumped at the touch of a hand on her shoulder. Whipping around she held the expensive camera firmly in her grasp as she came to face her company._

_ "Welcome back." Joe stood just a foot away from her, his outstretched arm falling away from her and to his side with a joyful swing. His chin was hidden under a grey scarf that wrapped around his neck and puffed up the breast of his jacket but his smile peaked over the material. "Enjoy your holiday?"_

_"I did." Liette responded almost immediately, her eyes happily welcoming her professor into sight. In reality it made most sense that it would be him tapping her on the shoulder. She had already exchanged courtesy welcome back's with her dorm mates and the writer's society had had their first meeting so the one person left on campus who would actually approach her was Joe."Did you?" she asked, allowing her arms to fall down to her side as her camera hung gently around her neck._

_"I did."_

_"Any special gifts for Christmas?" Liette asked, swaying slightly on her feet. _

_"Yes." Joe said but he seemed to hesitate in speaking more. He watched as Liette moved onto the balls of her feet and then back onto her heels. He considered diverting the conversation away from the current one but he couldn't as her eyes peered into him, asking for answers. It was not the same look she gave him when she was thirsting for knowledge but it was enough to unfortunately open his lips once more. "I'm going to have a son."_

_"Congratulations." Liette responded without a breath. "Children aren't my cup of tea but you look happy." Generally Liette thought of Joe as a happy person. Only on a few rare occasions had she noted irritation or anger in him and that had been during class. People who did not do the readings got on his nerves and so did cellphones. In general though Joe was always charmingly happy and he seemed no different now._

_"It was a surprise." Joe nodded. "Was this yours?" he asked, his gloved right hand reaching forward to lightly skim the material of the strap around her neck. _

_"Yes. It was too much but my parents thought it would be nice for me to capture my first snowfall." Liette said, her hands reaching up to whole the camera beneath her hands once Joe drew his back. _

_"You'd never seen snow before?" Joe's eyes widened._

_"Not until I flew back here." Liette responded with a small shrug. _

_"Well then you shouldn't just be looking at it through a camera lens, you should be enjoying it! Put the camera down and experience it for a bit." he suggested. Liette watched as Joe bent down and scooped some loose snow up into his hand before he raised his palm up near his lips so he could blow the snow in Liette's face. The sudden coldness touched her warm skin and began to melt but not before some of it clumped on her eyelashes and her nose. _

_"Professor Carroll!" Liette shook the snow from her face, laughing but also shocked by his childishness. She blushed slightly as he reached up and brushed some snow off the tip of her nose. He leaned in with a smile as he spoke again._

_ "Art must be lived, Liette." _

Art. Joe thought that all of this was art. Liette had only ever known him as a lover of literature and the romantic period as a whole but it was clear now that his true idea of art was sadistic and twisted. Her eyes left the image of his face and wandered back to his victims. Flashes of their mangled bodies entered her mind like lightning strikes that were too close for comfort. Each flash made Liette feel more and more fearful of being here. What if he had intended to take her as a victim all along? What if he had dragged her back into his life so he could do to her what he had done to the others? It was clear that Joe was relentless. He had went after Sarah Fuller to finish the job after all these years. If he had plans for Liette in the beginning, she had no doubt that he would try and go through with them now.

What part did she have to play in this twisted story?

"Arnaut." Agent Mitchell approached the table Liette was sitting at and took a seat across from her, shielding Liette from the view of the pictures on the board. With Mike's location known to the other agents, Deirdre had a chance to stop scouring the computer for some clue on how to find their missing agent. She still had lots of work to do with Joey Mattews missing but for a moment she needed to separate herself from the computer screen. "How are you doing?"

"Fine." Liette lied, closing up for Mitchell like she did for everyone else.

"Your psycho ex-professor drags you back into his life and you want me to believe your fine?" Deirdre's eyebrow arched in a suspecting matter. Their team dealt with people like Joe all the time but as agents they were rarely personally connected to them. Besides, even as the technical analyst Deirdre was still part of a team of profilers and it wasn't difficult for her to pick up the fact that something was wrong.

"I've been better." Liette altered her answer but didn't give much more to it.

Deirdre watched the blonde for a moment, carefully examining how the other girl chewed on her lip and picked at her finger nails all while avoiding eye contact. Debra had warned the rest of the team to be wary of Liette and Deirdre understood why. The young woman before her was either suffering from a slowing approaching anxiety attack due to her discomfort or she was feeling nervous about being trapped in a room with fellow agents who might figure her out. It was completely up in the air whether or not Liette was one of Joe's accolades but like Debra, Deirdre wanted to believe that they were smart enough to not let a cult member into their ranks. Becoming an agent was a vigorous process and although Liette's heightened intelligence had granted her a smoother entry process Deirdre doubted it had been enough to miss any psychopathic tendencies she could have been hiding.

The team had always been kind enough to Liette, with a few exceptions. There were those that whispered about her for missing every staff party and complained that she had never joined one of the bureaus many teams. Liette was a bit of a social recluse amongst an organization that tried to build family units inside of it. She was the black sheep of that family but agents like Deirdre and Mike had always been good at trying to shepherd her towards the others instead of letting her wander on her own. Sometimes it was more difficult to do than other times and Deirdre could tell by the distancing look in Liette's eyes that it might be hard to guide her back to them today.

"You can talk about it you know."

"You all think I'm one of them." Liette's eyes were dark as she raised them to meet Deirdre's. Agent Mitchell sat back a little, her back coming to form a straight line against the bars of the metal chair she was seating upon. Liette wasn't known for being the most chipper person on the team but there was still a transformation occurring. Mitchell was used to the logical little genius who liked to run her mouth about useless facts before getting to the point. She was used to Liette quoting books she should have long forgotten or referencing movies that she should have never seen. While Liette's extensive knowledge could get tiresome and irksome it was something to be thankful for. The girl had saved her many hours trying to research obscure items that they came across in their cases.

However, as Liette stared at her with pursed lips and dreadful eyes Deirdre was given no speech about relics from Egypt or the religious beliefs of the people of Babylon. Instead a chilling silence lingered between them, filled only by the fact that the other agents in the room continued on with their word as if nothing was there. Deirdre longed to be distracted by the keys of her keyboard again, focused on her computer screen even if her eyes had begun to blur after staring at if for the past twenty some hours. She needed sleep but now she was sure this image of Liette would haunt her dreams if she closed her eyes.

"Liette, what's wrong?" It was too wide of a question but Deirdre hoped to open Liette up with some signs of caring. She wanted the other young woman to know that she hadn't come over here to try and elicit some surprise confession that she had been working for Joe all along. That was the last thing Deirdre wanted.

"I don't want to be here." Liette answered, almost just as vaguely. "It's too much."

None of them really wanted to be there. This case was an embarrassment to every agent who had worked on it so far. They had had very small successes in all of this. Hardy had saved his sister in New York and they had found Joey Matthews safe but Emma Hill had gotten away with him. So far Joe's people were winning and it was frustrating. The guards of this prison had lost colleagues when Joe had escaped, Sarah Fuller had had her old nightmare return and Claire Matthews had lost her son to her monster of a husband. None of them were winning, only Joe and his people seemed to have truly succeeded at anything. Even locked up, Joe seemed to be getting everything he wanted.

Liettel pushed back her chair with her heels, standing up and leaving Deirdre without a clue of how to help her. The other woman turned in her seat to watch Liette walk up to the evidence board to get a closer look. She glanced at all the pictures but once again her eyes came to rest on Joe last. The friendly smile of his staff picture hid all the darkness in his mind. That smile was completely distracting and it was his perfect disguise. Liette could only imagine Joe approaching the young women he had targeted, his accent placed on his lips with that lustrous smile. His happiness had been infectious and such a grin had made people bend to his will. Thinking deeply about it, it wasn't hard for Liette to imagine how Joe convinced all these people to do his bidding. Perhaps if she had visited him at all in these past ten years she would have found herself trapped as well.

Deirdre's chair scraped across the floor as she moved to stand as well, approaching Liette from behind. Deirdre was a bit taller than the other woman so she was able to peer over Liette's shoulder and look at the picture of Joe as well.

"It must have been difficult for you, finding out what he did." Liette whipped around at Deirdre's words but she didn't speak at first. Difficult wasn't the right word, it had been impossible for her.

_"Students of Winslow University can rest safely tonight. The local authorities and the FBI have apprehended the man responsible for the string of killing that have occurred on campus over the past year. The FBI did not have a statement but it has been confirmed that the man responsible for this killings was a professor from the university. Professor Joseph Carroll tau-"_

_With a click of the remote the television flickered off. It was the fifth time Liette had watched the new bulletin in the past two hours and this time she didn't need to get through it to believe it was true. This was actually happening. Her phone had been ringing off the hook, calls coming from her mother and the students in the writer's society who all knew how close she had been with Joe. Everyone was calling to see if she was okay but Liette wasn't able to speak. She had just been crying for the past two hours. The only reason she wasn't sobbing now was because it felt physically impossible to summon any more tears._

_Sitting on the small single bed in her dorm room she stared at the blackened screen of the television. Her ringers grazed over the buttons of the remote, tempted to turn the screen back on to see if this had all been a bad waking nightmare. She knew better. The information had been repeated to her over and over again by different news sources that were now gathering outside of the police station and the university to try and get more information on Joe's apprehension. Liette couldn't watch it. The swirls of blue and red lights from police cars had been illuminating her windows for the past two hours but she couldn't be a part of it._

_She placed the remote on her bed and pushed herself off the mattress, her ankles as weak as the rest of her body. She was completely drained from this and she needed a way to forget or she'd never be able to get to sleep. It was almost midnight but Liette knew that some of her roommates never slept or at least not until the wee hours of the morning. She slammed her open palm against the concrete wall of her room, stabilizing herself as she stumbled towards the door. She took a moment to straight up and wipe her tears before she moved into the hallway._

_Liette's feet dragged along the carpeted floors until she reached the common room. Several students were sitting around the television watching the same program she had just shut off. A picture of Joe's face flashed on the screen and made Liette stumble against the doorframe. The commotion of her body against the wood caused a few to turn their heads._

_"Liette you alright?" one of the girls asked. She wasn't entirely friendly with any of them but it didn't make them bad people. "You were in his classes weren't you?"_

_Liette nodded but didn't speak. Two of the guys jumped up off the couch and came over to her as they noticed she was kind of slumping over in the doorway, her body overcome with grief. Their hands reached out and steadied her, lifting her back up off the door so she would straighten up. Her knees unbuckled and she used the support of her dorm mates to steady herself once again._

_"Do any of you have something to drink?" Liette asked instead of responding to the girl's questions._

_"Like alcohol?" the guy to her right asked. "Yeah, we were actually just talking about that. We thought it might help loosen everyone up." his eyes fell upon Liette who nodded in agreement. It was a little late but she was finally going to get around to that typical dorm night of getting drunk with her dorm mates in the common room. Few of them were legal but as long as they didn't break anything their don wouldn't bother them._

_With some help from her company Liette moved into the room and sat down on one of the couches between the two young men who had come to her rescue. Some of the others moved out of the room to retrieve their stashes of booze from their dorm rooms. The remaining roommates looked to Liette as if she was going to share some horror story about Joe but instead she leaned forward and snatched the remote off the coffee table, turning off the television before focusing on any of the others. "Do any of you know a drinking game to play?" she asked, desperate to get her mind off Joe._

_"A drinking game?" one of the guys laugh. "We know lots."_

_"We all thought we'd never see you in the common room, never mind get you drunk." one of the girls admitted._

_"Well, now's your chance."_

"Liette?" Deirdre tried to get the blonde to respond as she watched her eyes glaze over with tears. "What is it?" The night of Joe's arrest had not been one of Liette's best and it was certainly a memory she didn't like to think about often. Not only had she been torn apart by the news of Joe but in her emotional state she had compromised herself in that common room. She acted like all of it had never happened, like she hadn't gotten so drunk that she stumbled back to her room with one of the boys, that she hadn't used him to get her mind off Joe. None of it had worked and now all that memory did was eat at her.

Deirdre reached out and touched Liette's shoulder but Liette shrugged her off. Moving past Deirdre once again so she could separate herself from the other agent. Liette stagger through the space and went back to the table, placing her hands flat on the top of it before she watched a tear fall against the metal from above. She tried to blink away the others that lingered in her eyes, composing herself before she could actually give in to her full emotions. This was all too much.

_I promise it'll all be okay_

Joe's words played in her mind like a taunting child, bullying a victim into a corner where they could find no escape. Liette felt as trapped as ever. She knew she would not be allowed to leave without an escort and here she was being observed constantly. Even if Deirdre had come over in true kindness Liette figured her watchful eyes were still being careful about noting and flaw in Liette's behaviour. If Liette showed one slip in her normal personality someone would be watching to catch it.

There was nothing she could do it this room. There was no progress to be made. She knew the case well enough that she didn't need to spend hours looking over the details; she had lived them. Even while she had tried to avoid the current actions of Joe and his team of crazies she had found it impossible to miss every news bulletin that had shown up in regards to them. Mike had given her the story over the phone and the news had filled in the rest of the pieces. In her opinion there wasn't anything to study here and even if she tried she knew it wouldn't help take her mind off the information she really wanted to know.

What had Joe been talking about?

Taking another look up to the board Liette looked at Joe's victims with a more critical eye. How could he have said they were nothing like her? They had been her age at the time, they were all blonde and they were all pretty much the same build as her. They all could have passed for sisters. Joe had a type, even if he wanted to deny it. They had been just like her. But why would he say otherwise?

"Why didn't he come after me?" Liette spoke, standing straight to actually face Deirdre on her own accord. "I've never understood it. He had plenty of opportunities, I was always on my own."

"I can't answer that." Deirdre shook her head. "Only he can."

"I need to speak to him again."

"You're not allowed." Deirdre reminded her. "Talk to Debra when she gets back. For now lets just hope Weston's okay."

They still had some time to wait. Joe had said they wouldn't find Mike for five hours. Debra and Hardy had left with an entire team of tactical agents, hoping to catch Joe's accolades who were in charge of delivering Mike at the specific time. It was a waiting game for everyone but the only one who didn't seem to be bother by the minutes slowly ticking by was Joe. He laid in his cell, his hands holding up the back of his head while he stared at the ceiling just thinking about how his plan was all about to unfold.


	7. Chapter 7 - Broken Open

**A delayed and shorter than I would have liked chapter. Enjoy!**

They found Weston tied to a buoy off the east side of the island. It was clear Mike hadn't been in the water long but somehow Joe's people slipped past the parade of ships and officers that had lined the area. The crews had been too busy for Mike to notice two individuals in the dark murky water at night. They had had exactly twenty minutes to find Mike before the tide rode high enough to cover the bottom of the buoy and him. The ship with Hardy and Parker had arrived with five minutes to spare.

Once in the hospital the doctors covered Weston with warming blankets, ushered him into a room to check all his vital signs and clear his lungs from any water that had threatened to fill them. Ryan and Debra were left behind the swinging doors as Mike was rushed away from them but placed in good hands. The doctors checked everything, knowing that his wounds were both physical and not. Mike passed out from exhaustion, his body and his spirit broken from fighting so hard. His face was cut up, his lip split, and his wrists raw from struggling against the restraints they had kept him in. Joe's people had not been kind to Mike during the three days that they had had him but Mike had not made it easy for them to hurt him. He had spent much of his time behind a computer screen like Deirdre but his field skills helped him enough to stay alive for the past three days. Finally he could rest.

The other agents, the coast guard and the local police force scoured the area that they found Mike in for any sign of Joe's people but it was as if they had slipped in and out of their defenses like smoke. Not a bit of evidence was left behind aside from the plain sailing rope that had been used to tie Mike up and that was completely useless. They had Mike back but it appeared the victory still belonged to Joe.

It took almost two hours for the doctors to clear Mike for visitors and even then he wasn't conscious. They would derive little benefit from being at the hospital but Hardy refused to leave Mike's side. Ryan didn't like to get attached to people but for once he had found someone he didn't mind. Mike was a good kid and a strong agent, he was someone that Ryan could have seen himself befriending years ago. Now, Ryan didn't have friends or at least he didn't make new ones. He figured the less ties he had to people the less he could hurt them. Ryan fully believed in his death curse and he knew Joe would exploit that if he could. Ryan only hoped that what had happened to Mike wasn't because he had let Joe see them together as co-workers.

While Ryan remained at the hospital Debra knew she had to get back to work. She knew that the whole team would have gladly rushed to Mike's room to wish him well but with the young man passed out and kept that way through painkillers there really was no use taking the team off of their task. Joe's people continued to push forward in their plans, getting more and more daring as they faced lines of agents and passed through them as if it was nothing. Debra was getting sick of being one step behind and she hated that Joe held them exactly where he wanted them. It was time to break free from the puppeteer's grasp and take control of this situation but for now they all needed sleep.

Debra returned to the prison to relieve her agents, coming into the room to find everyone at a standstill, waiting for orders since they had run out of things to do. They still needed to find Joey Mattews but with no leads as to where Emma, Paul or Jacob were they had no idea where to look. Hardy had injured Paul so no one even knew if he was in the game anymore, his body would be the first new lead towards Joey in a while but so far they had come up empty handed.

"Is everything alright?" Deirdre asked the moment Debra entered the room.

"Weston's safe, he's at the hospital."

Liette stood from the table at Debra's words, grabbing her blazer from the chair that she had placed it on just two hours ago. Waiting had been torturous and the hours had dragged on but now that the waiting was over Liette felt herself spring to life again.

"Where are you running off to?" Deirdre asked.

"To see Mike."

"He's unconscious, there's no use rushing to the hospital." Debra halted, raising her hand to steady Liette. "I'll take you there in the morning if you still want to go." no one was going to let Liette go into that hospital alone, not with Mike defenseless and Liette's innocence still not proven. "For now you should go get settled in the hotel and get some rest. You're going to need it."

"I want to see him." Liette resisted slightly as she threw her blazer back on and continued to move as if she would get what she wanted.

"Tomorrow."

The finality in Debra's words rang out loudly and her tone was harsh enough that it silenced the room. Liette stood against her, tempted to fire back but withholding any shot of words she could use against her boss. Liette was painfully aware of every motion she made and every syllable that rolled off her tongue. Normally she wasn't so withdrawn, she spoke bluntly and without a care of social consequence. The only reason she acted differently now was because of how Debra was treating her. Liette knew that one wrong word would just put her in an interrogation room and for once she wouldn't be the one asking the questions.

The eyes of the other agents lingered on the three women in the middle of the room. Deirdre stood between Debra and Liette, the centre between the two uneven scales that seemed to sway against each other now. Debra caused the motion with her swaying confidence in Liette; her want to trust each member of her team crashing against her fear of trusting too easily and being fooled again by one of Joe's people. Despite her hatred for office politics, Debra knew that this case could make or break her career. If many more people were killed or hurt she'd be reporting to someone instead of leading this investigation.

"I suggest you go get some rest." Debra said again. "Be ready to come back here and work the case in the morning."

Liette knew what that meant. She'd be kept around here to be watched and monitored but to also be used if Joe wanted to bargain with them again. If he wanted to see Liette again he'd have to make a deal and Debra would make that clear. Liette was not getting back into that interrogation room with Joe unless Joe was willing to give them more information. Debra figured it would be unlikely that Joe would give up his son but there had to be other things he could bargain with that would help their investigation.

Liette chose to lay down her arms, dropping her head down in a solemn nod before she moved past Deirdre and Debra to go to the door. She moved through the hall, her arms swinging unevenly as she moved. Like a grandfather clock that was off time she moved with uneven clicks and uncertainty. For a moment she regretted not saying anything against Debra but it only took her a few minutes to convince herself she had made the right decisions. Setting herself up as a bigger suspect would see her interrogated until every last story she had of Joe left her lips and there were some stories that she just wasn't ready to tell.


	8. Chapter 8 - Winter's Tale

**I'm sorry if there are typos / unfinished sentences. I was going to try and edit but I'm tired and I wanted to post this before bed. Enjoy!**

Being rushed to Richmond had left her without a change of clothes and her to go bag. She figured she'd had to run out and get a few pairs of pants and a few shirts tomorrow but with most businesses being closed at three in the morning Liette had went to the hotel with what little she had come with. She loosed her nude coloured bra from her body, slipping it from underneath her dress shirt while allowing the white material to stay onto her. In the same slowness she removed her pants, leaving the black panties underneath on to sleep in. They were hardly pajamas but they would have to do.

Sleep would not come for Liette and it had nothing to do with the hard hotel bed or the sounds of footsteps on the floor above her. Liette was used to the never sleeping downtown of New Orleans, where the parties had raged on well after her bedtime and yet never kept her up. When her mind wasn't bogged down with worries and fear she was able to sleep best when there was a bit of chaos happening around her. She had never been too fond of pure silence. Tonight, even with sound there was no place that Liette could find a good night's rest in, her mind was too troubled from the events of the day.

Laying flat on the covers of the hotel bed, Liette stared into the darkness of her room while she listened to the sound of her uneven breathing. Her mind rushed with thoughts, the images of the day flying past her like gusts of wind. She could barely breathe in the moments before they were replaced with another. Despite the airy nature of her thoughts it was as if she was being suffocated. The more she tried to think about something else the more ended up being dragged back into all that had just happened. It hadn't even been twenty four hours and yet somehow Joe had managed to turn her world upside down.

Joe. Liette's mind lingered on his name, her lips not daring to speak it aloud as if vocalization of it would summon him. He was locked up, tucked safely away where he could not touch Liette and yet she felt his eyes lingering on her still. She saw him as she had seen him today, older and yet still very much the same. There had been moments in the interrogation room where Liette had witnessed a glimpse of his manipulative and malicious nature but only as he spoke about his book and his need to control the pacing. For the most part the man before her today had looked no different than the one she had sat with ten years ago.

That was what bothered Liette.

There was a feeling inside of her that was keeping her awake. This feeling wasn't fear or uneasiness but something else all together. She wouldn't admit it to anyone but a part of her had felt a relief in seeing Joe today. That relief brought her a new kind of stress, one where she realized a bit of her had actually missed him. Dissonance filled her lungs like water, threatening to choke the life out of her as she struggled between missing Joe and hating the monster. Could she do both?

In that moment Liette knew what her thoughts implied. If she let those dangerous dreams become words on her lips she'd lose the trust of everyone she worked with. Many of them were apprehensive about her already. Some people didn't like to be corrected and Liette was not good at holding her tongue when she thought someone was wrong. She had stepped on a number of toes in the bureau so it would take one slip to have some of the agents narrowing their eyes at her and passing judgement.

But weren't they doing that already?

Liette had not heard a single whisper about her since she arrived in Richmond but she figured they were happening. Agents were more discrete than schoolgirls spreading gossip on the playground. Liette imagined some of them had remained at the prison and now their lips could move freely to say whatever they wanted about Joe and herself. Liette's imagination wasn't kind as she began to picture the things they would say about her.

Friend.

Acolyte.

Fangirl.

Lover.

Liette sat up abruptly at her own thoughts. _No, no, no._ She cursed herself for even letting her mind go there. She remembered the feeling of butterflies and the sensation of a school girl's crush too easily but she shook it from her body with a quick shake of her head. Sleep was not coming so Liette stood and walked to the bathroom. The rushing of the tap water filled her ears as she went to splash some water in her face. She bent down, letting the excess drip off of her before she straightened back up. She almost screamed when she noticed another face in the mirror.

"Hello love."

It was as if he was real but after shaking her head furiously Liette came to realize the image of Joe was just her mind playing tricks on her. She needed sleep. She'd start seeing more mirages out of exhaustion if she let this carry on. It had been as if he had actually been there in the mirror but thankfully the image had only lasted a few seconds.

"He's locked up. You're safe." Liette reminded herself vocally before she returned to the hotel bedroom, walking slowly into the darkness until she reached the bedside again. _What am I going to do? _She thought to herself with a heavy sigh. There wasn't much she could do at all. It was time to give into sleep.

With sleep came dreams or in Liette's case, memories.

_"I can't believe you talked me into this." Liette was tying up an old pair of ice skates just like the amateur she was. Somehow, she had let Joe talk her into trying to skate as long as it was at night and no one would be around to see her make a fool out of herself. The final part of the agreement was that Joe had to come help teach her how._

_He would have had it no other way._

_"You'll do fine."_

_"On my best days I can hardly walk." Liette reminded him that she wasn't known for her grace but just the opposite. She often forgot to look where she was going and normally got so distracted by the thoughts inside her own head that she didn't notice she had fallen down until she was fully on the ground. "This is going to be horrible."_

_"You have to experience real winter, which means skating." he said as he sat beside her, shaking his head as he watched her lace up her skates. "Let me do that for you so you don't break your ankle." Joe stood and moved in front of her, kneeling on the wet snow to pull her leg up._

_"Careful!" Liette exclaimed as she watched Joe bring the blade up near his chest._

_"It's fine." he soothed with a laugh, enjoying Liette's innocent. His fingers worked away at the laces like clockwork, making a perfect bow at the top of the skate before he moved onto the next one. Liettle looked down at him with an embarrassed smile, turning beat red as he looked up and caught her eye. "You have to at least be a little bit excited." _

_"To make a fool of myself? No, not at all." Liette shook her head but allowed Joe to finish the second skate. He came off the ground and sat back down onto the bench beside her, pulling out his old pair of skates once Liette was comfortably in hers. _

_Snow lightly fell above them, breaking through the tree branches that covered the path of the quad and parts of the frozen pond that would bring them their entertainment. Joe stepped out onto the ice first, stumbling a bit at first because of lack of practice but then finding his bearing enough to zoom around the ice. She had watched people skate before but that had been on television during the olympics. Now she saw it was a bit more messy out on a frozen pond when your partner wasn't a professional. _

_"I don't know about this..." she frowned, looking down at the ice and just thinking about all the different way she could hurt herself. She would had midterms in less than a month and she didn't want to be the student hobbling around school on crutches._

_"Come on, you promised." Joe reminded her, skating up and stopping at the edge of the pond before her. "You can do it." he said, golding out his gloved hand for her to take in order to join him. _

_If it had been anyone else Liette might have said no but with Joe it was impossible. She had done her absolute best to keep him only as her professor but each Sunday coffee date or little meeting like this had her feeling closer and closer to Joe. She wouldn't lie and say he wasn't a friend but she was still desperately trying to deny that he was more than that. He was married and expecting a baby. He was simply out of bounds and yet when Liette took his hand and stepped onto the ice she knew she had doomed herself right then and there. She would be in trouble for sure. _

_She just didn't know exactly how much trouble she was in._

_Unknown to Liette, she wasn't the only one dealing with the conflicts of feelings that shouldn't be. Joe knew that he pushed himself every time he spent another hour with Liette. He knew that he tempted himself to step outside of what was right. None of it made much sense to him. He loved Claire, he had always loved Claire and yet when he was with Liette he felt something completely different. It was a feeling that he couldn't just let go of which was why he kept inviting her to coffee and planning dates like this. What else could you call it? It was a date. They practically looked like a couple gliding along the ice, Liette stumbling as she found her balance in skates. Thankfully there was no one to see them like this but Joe knew exactly how it looked. _

_"See? Not so bad is it?" he teased as he pulled her along. She stumbled slightly, shaking because of her unsure legs but he held her up, one hand crossing his body to hold her hand while the other snaked around her waist to keep her upright._

_"Just don't let go of me!"_

_"I won't."_

_He didn't ever want to let go. He wanted to stop their movement and make that promise for real. Suddenly Joe was more aware of his feelings than ever before. Glancing over at her was another mistake on his part. Glowing in the dim lights of the park lanterns Liette was a snow touched angel, warm and glowing against the winter scene. She was bundled up in a matching red knit hat and scarf that complimented her perfectly. Joe was sure she had never been so beautiful but perhaps it was because she had never been so close before. He was practically holding her. Thankfully there was no one around to watch them. Joe knew exactly what this looked like but for a second he didn't mind. _

_But then he remembered Claire and their unborn child. How could he forsake his marriage? How could he break his vows? He couldn't. It just wasn't right. He used his motions in skating to hide his thoughts from Liette but he felt himself spiraling. She would ruin him if he let her so he couldn't. Turning in their glide, Joe moved to skate backwards, holding both of Liette's hands as he moved them along the ice. He didn't say a word, he just looked at her until he found his solution in her eyes._

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Just so everyone knows I'm in the mood for some AU Joe/Liette one shots so if you have any AU situations you're interested in reading please leave them in the comments. I'll be writing things as side projects separately from Trigger Girl (TG will continue on during these, they'll be completely AU!). **


	9. Chapter 9 - Only Time Would Tell

Liette awoke, thankful to have slept without nightmares and yet put off by the dreams she did have. Little memories of Joe had flickered through candlelight as she went through her sleep cycles. She was sure some of the dreams had escaped from her but as she sat up in her bed the night on the frozen pond burned brightly in her mind. She had been a fool to develop a crush on her professor but she was sure she hadn't been the first girl to do such a thing. Many girls before her had probably chased the coattails of their professors, hanging off their words and hoping to see them without their wedding bands. Liette had tried not to be so foolish but Joe's wonder had drawn her into him, like a moth to a flame. It had all been enough that she hadn't seen the devil underneath.

Winter was something that Joe had stolen from Liette. She hadn't previously been aware that a thief could take a season and yet she knew he had taken it from her completely. Every first snow fall or pair of ice skates made her think of him and made her wish the frozen months would be thawed with an early spring. The tickle of soft snow flakes reminded her of his gentle touch and the smell of hot chocolate made her recall their afternoons in the coffee house. Such a frozen time should have been suitable for such a cold man and yet the memories of Joe and winter were not icy at all. He had taken the warmth of the fire and hot chocolates and left her with nothing but a barren feeling of the bitter cold.

Losing her clothing for a hot shower, Liette awoke quickly, much quicker than most people. Mornings had never bothered her but the few hours of sleep she had been able to get made her eyes heavy and increased her usual need for caffeine. She needed two things: coffee and fresh clothing. Once she was cleaned up she threw on yesterday's outfit as it was the only thing she had and headed out the door.

As Liette opened the hotel room door she noticed a resistance that felt a little unusual. Her eyes narrowed until she came upon a plastic bag that had been tied to the outside handle. A small yellow sticky note hung loosely off the bag.

_Some new clothes for you - Parker_

Liette felt the restraints of the leash around her neck tugged back as she realized that they weren't even going to trust her to go out shopping on her own. For a moment she considering tossing the bag down the hall and heading out anyway. She knew she wouldn't get two feet past the lobby before she was stopped by someone. There was an agent sitting at the end of the hall, pretending to be working on something else while he really cast his eyes down at Liette's room. She was practically as trapped as Joe was.

Taking the bag of clothes off the door handle Liette stepped back into her room, closing the door behind her so she could feel as if she actually had some privacy. Her hands ripped open the plastic bag to release the clothes that had been picked out especially for her. The thing was that the moment Liette opened the bag and allowed the contents to spill out onto the bed she didn't see a single piece of clothing that looked like something she wore. Debra saw her every day and yet the woman had picked out lace dresses and high waisted pants. Just touching the material made Liette feel like she was entering a game of dress up which was exactly when she realized she was.

Debra wanted to send her back in with Joe.

It was the only explanation for such ridiculous purchases. The black blouse Liette picked up off the bed was about the only thing that looked remotely close to what she normally wore but as the shear material caught the sunlight Liette realized it was slightly see-through. It had been done on purpose. Debra was dressing her up for Joe, making her into an object of his desire in hopes to make him talk.

She had become bait.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the clothing laid out on the bed and yet Liette looked down upon the pieces with disgust. She was a generally modest girl who was known for dressing professionally for everything. She usually did not allow people to see her in the plain t-shirts and jeans that she saved for weekends alone at home with her dog. She appreciated pressed dress pants, proper blouses and different toned tweed blazers that were usually adorned with leather or suede elbow pads. See-through blouses, lace dresses and high waisted pants were a little too much and yet Liette knew she would have to settle upon an outfit from the bag or go out in yesterday's clothes.

She started with the pants, figuring that they would be the most comfortable but as she noticed her body shape and tighten around the fabric she felt uncomfortable and confined. A moment later the garment lay crumpled on the floor. With pants out of the question the blouses were kind of useless which left Liette choosing between the two dresses. She settled on the longer of the two, that had a lace collar and sleeves over the top of a sweetheart neckline and an a-line flow. It was a ricotta white and looked pristine against Liette's light skin. She didn't feel completely awful in it but it looked like something that she should have been talked into for the work Christmas party, not an outfit for an actual day of work.

Debra had really overstepped this time.

With one final look in the mirror Liette knew she could waste no more time pulling at the fabric of the dress to make the hemline longer. She slipped on the small pair of flat oxfords that she carried around in her bag as convenience shoes. With everything else set aside and her computer bag slipped over her shoulder Liette moved back into the hallway, this time letting the door close behind her as she headed out for the day.

Debra waited in the hotel lobby, knowing that her team would start to awaken from their first night of sleep in a while and would need to be directed back to the prison to set up. Debra waited for Liette in particular who came out of the elevator with a bemused look on her face. The way Liette shifted against the fabric of her new dress made it quite apparently to Debra that she wasn't comfortable. Debra did feel slightly bad for the call she had made but they were running out of options. She was doing all she could to get the reigns of this operation in her hands and out of Joe's which meant she had to use Liette for what she was worth.

"Good morning." Debra greeted, holding out a coffee from the hotel's continental breakfast to Liette. Begrudgingly Liette took the cup and sipped it, not forgiving Debra's decisions just because the cup of coffee but welcoming the warm caffeine to her body as she felt herself start to actually wake up.

"Who's driving me to the prison?" Liette asked, leaving all camaraderie and courtesy behind her. She'd focus on the task ahead instead of fighting with Debra about this ridiculous dress and the other pieces of clothing back in the room.

"I am." Debra answered. "I thought you wanted to go see Weston."

Liette's eyes were cold as she stared at Debra, responding quickly with words sharp as knives. "I think you have other plans for me today, don't you?"

Debra couldn't deny it, she could lie and act like she had nothing in particular planned but they would both know she was lying through her teeth. The image of Liette in that white dress would have been enough for a laugh had their situation not been so desperate. Liette didn't look fully like herself but that was the point. She was less conservative and reserved which is how Debra wanted her presented to Joe. If Liette appeared to be opening to Joe perhaps he would open up as well. It was a long shot but Debra finally had the chance to act without Ryan or Mike breathing down her neck about what decision she was making. She would be taking a chance by throwing Liette back in with Joe so quickly but she hoped taking the risk would pay out handsomely.

Only time would tell.

**For those of you patiently waiting, your next Joe x Liette interaction shall be coming next! **


	10. Chapter 10 - Winter's Waltz

**I've been waiting to write this chapter for a while. Hope you like it! Please read and review!**

Liette did not show any hesitation as she reached the door of the interrogation room for the second time. Debra stood behind her, supervising Liette's entrance until the door was closed behind her. Liette said nothing to Debra and did not look for advice or encouragement. On the drive over Debra had told Liette she was to try and get whatever information she could out of Joe, no matter how big or small it was. Debra and the others would be watching. The interrogation room would be visible to her through the feed but aside from that Liette was all Joe's once again.

Liette stepped into the room with a new confidence or at least a falsely placed one. She used her anger to her advantage, using the mistrust she had garnered from her teammates as a shield against Joe. She had something to fight against, more than just Joe. Her team was practically building against her, prepared to use her as live bait or ready to pounce if she said one thing that suggested she was working with Joe. Years with the bureau didn't count here, even the smallest of friendships had faded away as Liette had become but a pawn in everyone's game. It was yet to be seen if she was coloured black or white.

"Liette." Joe's eyes widened with joyful surprise, shocked to see the young woman before him in the place of Ryan or Debra. He had expected an intensive interrogation from one of the two after they had recovered Agent Weston. Joe figured they were successful because he hadn't been awoken in the middle of the night to be yelled at. If Weston had died they would have taken their rage out of him because lord knows they weren't competent enough to catch his men.

"Joe." Liette returned the greeting as she folded her hands together on the top of the table.

"Back so soon." it was just a statement, one that showed Joe's happiness to find himself in this situation once again. "I would have cleaned myself up had I known it was you, but alas it would have been more drab orange." An attempt at a joke. Liette wasn't laughing. A grimace came over Joe's lips as he realized how quiet she was. She wasn't trembling, she was just still. The image of a porcelain doll sat before him and although she was beautiful she was nor entertaining. He longed for their conversations, the freeness of words that had once flown between them was stagnant in the air. He needed that to change.

Joe grasps at words like straws, trying to find a conversation that might require Liette's responses. "Is this the kind of thing you wear now?" he asked, his eyes fully getting acquainted with the white dress that clung tightly to Liette's body.

"Yes." Liette responded quickly, the single word not nearly enough to wipe the frown off Joe's lips.

"You're lying to me. We can't have that." he clicked his tongue at her with disapproval.

Liette swallowed realizing if she was going to be part of this game she would actually have to play. She would not be the useless king on the chess board, hopping one space at a time with one word responses. Joe had made her the queen. Her moves were limitless and that made them important. She had to move with action and purpose. "I had to come without notice, I couldn't bring my own clothes." she told him the truth.

"So they dressed you in this?" disgust fell from Joe's lips. "Very crude agent Parker, very crude." he spoke to the camera but Debra could feel his eyes baring into her through the screen. Joe wasn't pleased at all, their little game hadn't thrilled him in the least. Joe looked at beauty as a young woman slain and split open, he had taken college girls who had worn dresses almost identical to the one Liette wore now and split them open to create art. It was what Debra had been going for and yet it had failed her because somewhere there was a disconnect with Liette for Joe. There was a space between her and all the other girls that hadn't connected yet. Debra had messed up and from the look Joe was giving the camera she figured it was a mess up she'd pay for.

Luckily Liette wasn't worried about the mishap, she took control for the first time and reigned Joe back into her. "So I look bad." her voice rang with hurt and insult, capturing Joe's attention right away..

"No, no, it isn't you!" He practically leapt forward to assure her that she had taken his words the wrong way. "You look luminous. The dress just doesn't suit you." he clarified, his fingers flexing forward as if he wanted to hold her hand in comfort. She could feel the warmness of that longing touch without actually feeling it. Her memory for Joe's fingertips against the back of her hands was surprisingly refreshed with just the view of his hands. She would not give him the touch he longed for but the conversation she could do.

"I know." she said, allowing herself into the conversation with a bit of ease. She was supposed to find a way to throw him off his guard which meant just talking to him was the best place to start. She was not completely comfortable with the idea, but just as she hadn't been comfortable with the dress she slipped it on anyway. "I'll pick up some things for myself tonight."

"I hope to get to see you in them." Joe smiled. "We'll be seeing lots of each other soon enough."

"What do you mean Joe?" Liette asked, surprised how quickly they were going to get into a conversation that might actually mean something. Talking about her clothing was useless but Joe describing her role in his plans might become important.

"You're part of the story I am trying to tell with Ryan. It's important to keep your readers intrigued so I couldn't just rely on the cookie cutter hero story, no I needed twists and turns that no one would expect. The readers will hold their breath as they get to you, wondering what could possibly happen next."

"And what's that?"

"Slow down, we have all the time in the world." it was a reminder to himself but also a warning to Liette. He wouldn't have her jumping down his throat for answers like some trained police dog, biting away at the cage. Joe had protected his plans in many ways, burying them with other people and hiding them away on different levels. No one person knew everything, even he wasn't fully aware of the full extent of everything that happened outside of this prison. The skeleton that propelled the body of the cult into action had been created by Joe but he had placed some trust in them to expand without direct orders. He had no idea how many of them there were now but he felt that the numbers were much greater than he had ever imagined.

"Now this is the point. You fancy me mad."

"I'm not really in the mood to discuss Poe right now." Liette shook her head.

"You used to love when I recited his poems to you." Joe frowned "Tell-tale heart was your favorite." he remembered every detail he had ever learnt about her. When Joe was fixated on things he studied them until he couldn't anymore. He had focused so much of his attention on Liette when he had had time with her. Ten years had not made him forget.

"Of Poe's, you know I prefer-"

"Chaucer, I know." Joe cut her off quickly. His racked his brain for a moment before he spoke again, trying his best to recall the words from Liette's favorite work by Geoffrey Chaucer; The Canterbury Tales. "Wommen desiren to have sovereynetee, as wel over hir housbond as hirt love." he finished his tongue rolling in his mouth, the old language sounding proper on his lips but actually quite messy if you knew what it was supposed to sound like.

"Your middle english is still sloppy."

It wasn't a scold, it was a tease and it came with a smile that Joe longed to look upon. He stared at her lips as if they were made of gold, the treasure of his world but nothing compared to the rubies that were her eyes. Still his gaze lingered on her lips, taking her teasing in with a smile of his own.

Liette knew she had hooked him, not fully but enough that he would chase that little smile on her lips with little hesitation. It had been easier than she had expected and that worried her. Joe was not a fool, even if he might seem like one in her presence. Liette knew better than to get arrogant. She would have to lead him through this as if she was in control but deep down she knew Joe called the shots in the end. If she asked the wrong question he'd shut down on her and she'd be left wanting answers he wouldn't give.

"How is agent Weston?" Joe asked, taking the reigns back almost as quickly as Liette had felt them fall into her hands. She was right to feel apprehensive about any perceived control she had. For Liette it was terrifying but she had to trust Joe to lead.

"Recovering from what I've been told."

"You didn't go see him?" Joe wouldn't show jealousy if she had but he was pleasantly surprised to see Liette shake her head. It was early in the morning which meant she must have showered, dressed and come straight to him. Even if that had not been Liette's call, Joe felt at the top of her list and he couldn't have been more pleased. "Agent Weston will need rest, there's still lots to come."

"I always hated cliffhangers." Liette reminded him.

"Yes, yes you did." Joe's chuckle fell to the ground as he looked down upon his hands, like Liette he had finally found some way to control the shaking. He could sit across from her without the obnoxious trembling that caused the chains to shake. That noise had disturbed the room, a constant reminder that he was indeed shackled down. "I wish I could tell you everything, I just can't yet." he needed to trust her before he'd freely give any information that she could use against him. His trust wouldn't be earned easily even if she held his admiration.

"We should talk about something else then." Liette suggested, diverting the conversation in hopes that she could sneak Joe back into something important by distracting him by small talk. Joe nodded but his lips didn't move again for quite some time. His gaze danced upon Liette, a slow moving focus taking in every inch that was visible to him. He lingered on her jawline, tracing it with his mind before he moved to her lips. His tongue flicked over his own lips absentmindedly before he let his gaze move up to her eyes. Brown circles blinked at him, suddenly not so confident or sure in the moment as she felt herself being observed. She felt more caged than ever, a prized bit of game captured in the hunt. Now the hunter admired it's catch even if she had put herself in the cage willingly.

"Joe?"

"There are some things you need to know." As if he was lost in her eyes, completely entranced by the swirl of chocolate brown that disappeared behind her eyelid every few moments when she blinked. "I think you're ready. You're upset with Agent Parker, you've been betrayed, it's time for you to understand." he straightened, tearing his eyes away from her so he could focus. His chains rattled for the first time but the echo of their clanging was soon lost in the room. Silence fell. Without probing Liette had triggered something in Joe and she was about to find out what.

"I'm listening." her voice was soft, begging him to continue. This was why she was here. She'd get whatever Debra needed out of Joe right now and prove her innocence.

Unfortunately what Joe had to say wasn't going to help with that at all.

"It was...it is...it's all for you Liette. All of it."


	11. Chapter 11 - Joe's Prologue

**I'm sorry for the delay. The holidays had me too busy to write and I really didn't want to rush this chapter. I hope you enjoy. Thank you for all the lovely comments!**

Confusion swirled with fear and finally produced anger in Liette. It had never been an emotion that she wore well. She simply wasn't comfortable with rage as she knew the consequences that such a harsh emotion could hold. Still, Joe's words triggered her, flipping a switch that had her growling at him instead of shaking. "What did you just say?" she was not timid or frightened, instead she was enraged. The wolf had shed it's clothing, revealing that it was not a lamb at all. Her hands gripped the side of the table as if she was holding onto the edge of world. She was sure she'd fall off if she let go.

"Liette please," Joe tried to soothe Liette, his voice swirling like a satin ribbon around her, surrounding her and pulling her in closer to him. She should have run. She should have darted out of the room and told Debra she couldn't do this anymore. Liette knew that Joe's next words would not bring her comfort in any way. He would explain what he had meant and yet Liette already knew. She assumed that the profilers on the original case had come up with several reasons why Joe was the way he was, why he killed. Childhood trauma and deviant fantasies were probably listed as things that might have made a seemingly ordinary man into a monster. It was clear now by Joe's words that it was so much more than that.

It had to do with Liette.

Liette had always seen it as a coincidence that the killings had started just six months after she had begun attending Winslow. She had no beliefs about dragging bad luck around with her or some death curse like Ryan Hardy had. In Liette's world things that were not entirely logical belonged in the category of happenstance or chance. She worked mainly on probabilities but accepted that somewhere there always had to be a situation that went against the odds. Still, none of her worldly calculations could have ever prepared her for what Joe had to say next.

"It's all very complicated." Joe looked down at his hands, his mind busied by the task of finding all of the right words. "You must promise that you'll let me explain everything." he looked up to her, waiting for the agreement.

She should have run.

"Okay."

Liette's hands found their tremors once again, shaking against the edge of the table that she clung onto. Thankfully the metal structure was bolted into the ground so it didn't budge, no matter how much Liette shook against it. Her eyes stayed on Joe, though she wanted desperately to look away. She couldn't. Liette had to watch every opening of his lips or shift in his eyes to try and see if he was toying with her. Maybe this was just some game. Perhaps she was just a pawn in his chess set after all. She had convinced herself that she had the ability to wrap Joe around her finger without him realizing it but she was beginning to wonder if it had been the other way around. She'd catch him in this sick twisted game if she could.

The only problem was that Joe wasn't playing a game.

"Before we met I had been perfectly confident that Claire was the person I wanted to spend my entire life with. She calmed a chaos in me that I had never really understood." He explained, thinking of his youth but not diving into it. Some aspects of his life needed to remain private and kept away from the FBI. They could only speculate about the things that he had done when he was younger. Early onset criminal behavior was a regularity in psychopaths but that mental note did nothing to ease Liette's mind. Joe continued without hesitation, dragging her deeper down the rabbit hole. "Then I met you and I began to question everything about my marriage. As you know, Claire and I began to fight."

_"Joe are you alright?" Liette asked a question she usually left behind with most people. She was afraid to ask things that might lead to answers she couldn't deal with. She knew she wasn't the best at consoling people but as she sat across from Joe in his office, helping him sort papers for his other classes, she couldn't help but noticed a grim look on his face. The room was illy lit but there was a darkness lingering upon Joe that wasn't caused by poor lighting. He seemed to carry a weight on him and despite a slight feeling of reluctance, Liette couldn't help but ask if he was okay._

_"I'm fine." Joe lied, not making it past Liette's keen eyes as he continued to toss papers to the side as he got sick of marking them. "Aside from the fact that I have to read such ignorant and pathetic pieces of writing." Joe was never unkind to his students, even if some of them weren't suited for english. The lash out confirmed Liette's suspicion that something was wrong._

_"Joe." Liette beckoned his attention up from the essays to try and understand him. She had only known Joe for three months but that was more than she could say about her classmates. They spent almost every Sunday together now, discussing the latest piece of literature that Liette had picked up to critique. On occasion she came to his office like this just to help him with the work for his other classes. It was all relaxing to Liette but normally the task was accompanied by Joe's high spirits and welcoming conversation. He was one of the few people that she could actually talk to for long periods of time without feeling burdened. That was the exact reason she had to see what what really wrong."What's actually going on?"_

_Joe looked up from the papers to see Liette studying him. What a bright girl she was. He was generally a terribly good liar and yet his facade had slipped away in the moment with Liette. Frustration had won out over Joe's typical nature to appear charming and pastoral. He peered across the desk at her and let out a long sigh as he realized she would not let him off the hook. She had read him like an open book, seeing the change in his typical blithe behaviour. He couldn't slam the pages closed on her now, she'd just reopen them. _

_"Trouble at home." he admitted, dropping his eyes back down in slight embarrassment. Since September he and Claire had been having difficulties getting along. She didn't like how often he was away from home, even if he excused it as being busied by work. He blamed his schedule on his focus on getting tenure but the fact was that Joe had wasted many of his available research hours just meeting with Liette. After three months he had not told Claire about his meetings with his student but not out of fear of jealousy but because of a feeling of possession. He needed something outside of his marriage and these intellectual talks with Liette were his and his only. They were just talks. It was not like he was having an affair. Joe had convinced himself that he was doing nothing wrong and that this time with Liette wouldn't bring him any trouble._

_He should have known better._

_A storm had begun to brew in Joe, not a week or two after he had met Liette. He had felt it inside him, that deadly chaos that he had known in his youth. Despite a clean criminal record Joe had a past he had run from when he had come to America. He had demons and skeletons in closet doors that had been unlocked by Liette's presence. The presets of a storm had begun to brew at home as his changing nature had started to cause fights with Claire. His once happy marriage began to deteriorate, only saved by the fact that a month later Claire would announce her pregnancy. The promise of a son brought new life to Joe and Claire's marriage but it did not suppress the storm brewing inside of him it had only deflected it to another avenue._

"Claire's pregnancy saved our marriage but I'm afraid it didn't save me from you." his words didn't make sense to Liette but they tightened around her as she waited for the full explanation. Joe was carefully planning each sentence he said and Liette could feel that this would be much more drawn out that she wanted. He had to recant everything to her, bringing her into a context where he figured she would be more understanding. He didn't want to frighten her but instead he thought he might flatter her. Liette felt nothing like the feelings that Joe was trying to instill in her, instead her fear deepened.

"I'm sure you know that love has always been important to me. It's the most important emotion in the world. I always imagined my marriage the love of a life time, the kind that the greats wrote about in all their works. I did love Claire for some time but not the way I loved you." the confession sank into Liette's skin like a sharp razor blade, tearing at her and making her want to cry out in pain. She felt her body convulse in agony as if she had just been burnt. She hadn't thought it was possible but her grip on the table tightened as she continued to stare at Joe, wanting to run away now more than ever but unable to break herself from the shackles of his gaze.

"I loved you." he repeated, his secret finally freed from the prison of his mind. He wanted to keep saying it as he felt his whole body lighten at the release of his words. He had held that statement back for so long, hid it in the blood and bodies of the young women he had desecrated and kept it to himself during the ten years that he was locked into the closet that they called a room. Finally he had found the moment to tell her. It had actually come sooner than he had expected and he was thankful for that. Holding onto this secret had been hard enough ten years ago when he had seen Liette in class and had wanted to tell her then. Thankfully that white dress said it all, Liette had been betrayed by her own people which meant Joe had a chance to claim her as his own.

But Liette didn't feel like Joe's at all. She felt disgusted, disturbed and torn. Her heart ached for the man who had once been her friend, the man that she had once dreamed about meeting in another world where they had a chance. He had been married and Liette hadn't been a fool. Her school girl delusions about Joe had been just that, delusions. Now he sat before her confessing his love and Liette didn't know how she was supposed to react. To be loved by such a beast was not flattering or comforting. Liette knew this confession would drag her into Joe's world now more than ever. She wouldn't escape this game until every last member of the cult was rounded up and imprisoned or killed. She would not rest until Joe did and it was all because he loved her.

"Come on." Debra watched as Liette remained silent, not gaining any ground for them in Joe's vulnerability. The team worked like clockwork around her, trying to pull up everything they could on Liette that linked her to Joe. This new reveal made Liette a suspect more than ever. Debra watched carefully, waiting for anything that might tip the game into Joe's hands but so far the man was giving nothing more than a simple long held confession.

"I don't understand." Liette's voice quaked, her world shaking beneath her with Joe's words. She wasn't fishing for answers, she was simply doing the least she could do to keep the conversation going, even if she didn't want to.

"I couldn't control my nature around you. I thought that maybe if I got rid of you..." Joe stopped, the look on his face reading as severe shame. A sickened feeling came about Joe, washing over him like an illness caused by his own words. "I'm sorry." he apologized for just the thought, knowing that Liette would have figured the rest of it out.

He had wanted to kill her.

Liette had been his intended target all along. She sat across from a man who now confessed that he loved her and thirsted for her bloodshed at the same time. Her heart raced, waiting for the next piece of the puzzle, needing the full explanation.

"I couldn't do it." Joe spoke, looking back to Liette once more. "But every day we spent together I questioned my marriage more and more but I couldn't cheat on Claire and I couldn't do that to you." Joe frowned. They had been wrong when they had labelled him a psychopath. Liette had checked off the traits in her head but Joe was missing one of the most important traits of all; a lack of empathy. Although Joe showed no remorse for his victims his empathy was not faked, at least not here in this moment with Liette. He watched her face contort into terrified looks and body shift uncomfortably against the chair she was seated in. He could feel every ounce of her pain and he knew it was all his fault. This had not been what he wanted at all. He had to fix this.

"Please don't be upset." Joe said but continued on before Liette could react. "You helped me unlock who I was meant to be. You made me into everything that I am."

That was something Liette didn't want to be responsible for.

"What does he mean?" Deirdre looked to Debra for understanding as she listened to every word on the video feed.

"I'm not sure. Arnaut may have been an inciting incident for him." Debra's mind searched for answers that Joe was hesitant to give. He was holding back something, she could see it in the way he held his arms closed to himself and his lips moved but no words came out. The confident lion was backing away, slightly intimidated by something in the situation.

Debra had no doubt it was Liette's reactions that were reeling Joe in.

"Pull up Carroll's victims." Debra said suddenly

Twelve girls. All Blonde, all in their early twenties, all of them students at Winslow. What had Joe meant when he said they were nothing like Liette? They were exactly like her. Deirdre even had a picture from Liette's graduation from Winslow pulled up on the screen and it was easy to see that the girl had fit right in.

"Love, say something, please."

Liette didn't have words to say, not ones that could be strung into a coherent sentence. Her mind scrambled, an unorganized darkness looming in the corner, the monster in the closet of a child's bedroom becoming a real life nightmare for the grown woman in the room. Her lips opened as if she would fulfill his request but the words caught in her throat, pushed back down by the agony of the moment.

"Come on, Arnaut."

Everyone waited on Liette. The agents. Joe. Even Liette herself waited for the words to come. But what was there to say? Words from her lips would be poison to the others. She could tell Joe how much she loathed him for bringing her in like this but it wouldn't further their investigation, it would just close him up again, making him useless until the next chapter in his book. The other root was to pretend she was flattered, it would get her further in finding out more about him but it would also incriminate her even if she was simply trying to do her job. The second consequence was that she'd have to listen to Joe explain the rest.

Liette looked down at the table, finally tearing her eyes away from Joe's gaze as she chose silence over words. She loosed her hands from the table edge and she sat back in her chair, distancing herself from Joe as much as possible in the moment. Her mind swirled with ideas of what to say but she suppressed the words there where they couldn't be heard.

_I loved you._

Joe's words burned into her as if they had been seared onto her skin with hot metal. She knew she'd never get them out of her mind. After ten years she had continued to struggled to forget him and now he came back to her, making himself more prevalent in her mind than ever before. She wouldn't escape him until they were both lifeless and cold. Liette knew it was her own death that would be the only thing to separate her from the beast across from her and for a moment she wished he had done what he had originally wanted to do. She wished he had killed her so she wouldn't have to live through this.

Then she remembered the mangled bodies of Joe's real victims.

"Why did you do it?" Liette's eyes snapped back up, the light in the room reflecting heavily in her lighter brown eyes, illuminating them until they appeared almost gold on the video feed. "What did Sarah, Jen, Amy, any of them do to deserve what you did to them?" She asked. The anger was back, the ugly emotion straightening Liette up as she leaned in again. The images of the other girls flashed too vividly in her mind for her to stay quiet. She had had only two options; curl up and quiver in fear or react outwardly. The latter gave her more to gain as she demanded answers from Joe.

Joe watched as Liette moved forward, coming close enough that he might have been able to grab her if he moved quick enough against his chains. Her blond hair fell loosely in front of her face, strands of it threatening to hide the glowing eyes that looked at him with such rage that he swore he could feel heat coming off of them as if she was trying to burn him with a gaze.

This was not the reaction he wanted. He had to calm her down.

"They were just wrong Liette. Their lives weren't filled with wrong choices and darkness that they couldn't escape." Joe's gaze moved past Liette as he found himself in a sort of trance, the image of his victims coming into his mind, pleasing him instead of disgusting him like they had Liette.

"They were all accomplished students, members of clubs, active at the school." Liette hadn't known the other girls well in their lives but during the killings she had done some research of her own, hoping to practice her profiling skills while she found herself in the killing zone of an actual serial killer. It had been more interactive than any of her lectures or her textbooks. "They were successful, just like me."

"THEY WERE NOT LIKE YOU!"

Absolute silence. The entire room of FBI agents came to a perfect stillness as Joe raised his voice with Liette for the first time. He had stood from his seat, his movement stopped by the chains on his wrists. Liette had stood as well, reacting to Joe's loud and quick behaviour, startled by such a change in him. She looked away, ashamed that the sudden fear had released tears from her eyes.

Guards from outside came into the room to settle Joe but they did not reach him before he sat down and apologized. "Love, I'm sorry, look at me." Joe softened once more, his voice calmed and steady as he reigned himself back in. He had tried to control such a reaction but Liette's words dug deeply into his heart. She was missing the point completely. Still, he realized he couldn't just scare her away. He had to keep explaining.

"Look at me."

His request suddenly had Debra snapping into action. "Mitchell, their eyes. Looks at their eyes." Joe was so focused on Liette's gaze that Debra had been able to find the puzzle piece she was missing. What was one of Joe's signatures? He cut out of the eyes of his victims. Enucleators were relatively rare and yet Joe's precision in removing both eyes of all of his victims was something difficult to forget. It was an action that some of his followers had adopted in his honour. Everyone had assumed that it was simple another thing about Poe. The eyes were the windows into a person's soul but what if it wasn't just that? What if it was what Joe was seeing through the windows that had turned him into a monster?

"What about their eyes?" Deirdre asked, not sure she knew where Debra was going with her statement.

"Blue, green, no brown. Liette's eyes are brown."

Despite the light illuminating the young woman's eyes into a lighter shade of gold it was still clear, especially to Joe, that Liette's eyes were a honey brown that spoke tales of autumn and falling leaves. There was a warmth in that colour even as it was hidden slightly by eyelids that had narrowed to stare at Joe, as per his request. The colour of Liette's eyes was distinct, especially in contrast to the ocean blues and seagrass greens that reflected in the pictures of Joe's victims.

"The eyes are the windows to the soul." Joe spoke as if he was teaching, standing in front of a lecture hall instead of shackled in a prison. "Don't you remember?"

Of course Liette remembered. Any words from Poe had turned her stomach since Joe's incarceration. She had avoided the dark and disturbed poet altogether, knowing that is words would remind her of Joe's voice and would make her think of him. Now she was forced to think about how she played into Poe's work, how she was part of Joe's fantasy. Just like Debra had, Liette began to understand.

"They spoke to me, not with words but with glances. They were desperate to be set free. Girls drowning in blue eyes, tangled in green. They were choking on their own lives, desperate for air. None of them were like you."

He was obsessed with her, in a way that no one could have imagined. All of his original victims had been surrogates, replacements for the girl he couldn't bring himself to kill. Their eyes had told him the stories of their lives of despair. Their eyes have set them apart from his beloved Liette. Their eyes had driven him to kill.

At first Joe had just been observing the girls to try and realize that Liette was just another pretty young girl that he didn't need to get hung up. He had tried to convince himself that his attraction to her had been caused by some want to keep his youth. An older man, a younger woman. It had made sense at first. Joe had denied himself the nature that had been stirring in him. But when Liette had told him about being asked out by one of the boys in her classes he had realized his jealousy only came from her. He saw girls like her all the time, just as young, just as beautiful but the jealousy he had felt in that moment had come only from Liette. He had to check to make sure which was why he had sought out Marissa Shore.

Marissa Shore had been Joe's first victim. A first year like Liette but an English student that was in many of his classes. He had easy access to her and so calling her to his office had been easy. It had been there that he had seen it. She glanced up at him, her blue eyes giving him all the answers he needed. He couldn't kill Liette but he could get the release he needed, just with other girls.

"I set them free. I did it for you."

Liette was practically choking back tears, her stomach turning with the knowledge that Joe bestowed on her. She felt a great burden placed on herself, one that made her feel as if she had taken the knife to those girls and killed them herself. From the other room Debra watched carefully, noticing that they were starting to loose Liette to her mind.

It was time to pull her out.

It took Debra all of a minute to leave the room and enter the interrogation room. "Arnaut, we're done here." it was an order, one she was giving to save Liette's sanity. More time with Joe might have given them more answers but Debra didn't want to be driving Liette to a mental institution after all of this. Despite her reservations about Liette's possible involvement with Carroll, Debra did still have to look after the young woman as a member of her team.

"I'm not finished Agent Parker." Joe's tone was ice compared to the one he used with Liette. "Don't you want to hear the rest of the story?" his tone was menacing, the lion had come back to the room and begun to circle around it's prey. He didn't want to hurt Liette but he had to continue on with his plan. The next chapter was about to begin. "After all, that was just the prologue."


	12. Chapter 12 - Stay

**Sorry for the delay. Everything got crazy with school and a job interview I have coming up. My chapters are going to be shorter again so you guys get more more often and I don't feel so strained. Hope you enjoy this one! I appreciate every comment and review.**

Debra wanted Liette out of the room and Liette was beginning to understand why. The way Joe was looking at her was carnal and absolutely terrifying. There was the way his tongue flicked over his lip, wetting the skin as he watched her, his lips preparing for the next words h had to say.

"Get on with it Carroll."

But before Joe could speak the door of the interrogation room opened once more. "You started without me." Ryan Hardy stood in the doorway, arms crossed against his chest, clearly not happy with the lack of inclusion he had received in this interrogation.

"Ryan! Welcome! You're just in time!" Joe greeted gleefully "Debra will have to catch you up later on what you've missed but lets carry on shall we?" The shrill sound of the metal chair scraping on the floor caught Joe's attention as he watched Liette push back. "What's wrong love?" Joe's predatory eyes seemed to soften, watching as Liette stood up and moved from the table.

"Your protagonist is here. You can continue the story without me." She could feel herself shutting down. She needed to get out of the room. She needed to get away from Joe. This was all too much. She had truly pushed herself through listening to his so-called prologue but she was sure she couldn't take the rest.

"Love, I can't do this without you."

"Stop calling me that."

Joe felt a sting of pain from the slash of her words. He sat back, shoulders straightening as he looked at her with a frown. It hadn't worked. She hadn't understood. She needed to. Joe knew he had to fix this but he wasn't sure how. How could he make her love him? She needed to understand he was trying to honour her in the only way he knew how.

"Am I free to go?" Liette turned to Debra, her eyes pleading for release.

Debra looked at the sad young woman who stood before her. Liette was less than ten years younger than herself but in that little white lace dress she looked a whole lot younger. Debra suddenly felt sick about the decision she had made to put Liette in that dress. She had dressed up her bait in hopes that the predator would break from his safe place. Joe had broke out from his quiet but Debra was now understanding how much she had accosted Liette.

She couldn't make her stay.

"Yes. Of course."

"I won't say another word if you let her leave me, Agent Parker."

"She stays." Ryan stood hard against the door, not budging as he watched Liette step to get passed him. He saw the same panicked look on the girl's face that Debra had seen but he did not feel as if he owed her a thing. He didn't know this girl and he had no clue what she had done to make Joe talk but he had started to and that was more than they had had all week. "Take a seat."

"Hardy..." Debra frowned.

"Let me by." Liette stood against Ryan, her hands shaking as well as the rest of her body. She tried to stare confidently at him but her eyes cast down after almost a moment. She had lost her strength. Screaming at Joe had done that. Finding all of this out had done that. She felt like she was going to collapse or at least be sick. Even as she stood against Ryan she could feel Joe's gaze burning on her and she knew if she turned to face him once more she would have to endure that look.

"Sit." Ryan bared.

"She's not a dog Hardy." Debra barked.

"Would you two mind taking your fighting outside? I would like to speak to Liette." Joe's calm demeanor was eerie as it floated through the tension of the room. He tapped his fingers on the table,watching as Ryan and Debra both looked over at them.

"And what do we get in return?" Debra asked

"I'll give you the men who took Agent Weston." Joe's fingers tapped on the table harder.

"Debra..." Liette's eyes begged the other woman to let her leave.

"Please Liette, just a few more minutes."

A few more minutes was going to feel like a lifetime.


	13. Chapter 13 - Beautiful Disaster

**Was in a strange mood this morning and wanted to write through Joe's emotions so this is fairly one-sided. Hope you enjoy. Also enjoy the episode tonight for those of you who are able to watch! **

The room stilled as the extra bodies moved away, leaving Joe with his darling Liette once more. He watched as she shifted back towards the chair, her hands moving quickly through the waves of her blonde hair. He found himself fixated on the movement of each strand that fell back into place. He saw them as golden strings from a perfect spinning wheel, every strand a work of art that must have been created by some god. Joe wasn't sure what he believed, he considered himself agnostic, there was a force out there that had somehow created them all but he wasn't sure any religion had captured that force perfectly. How could anything they described be powerful enough to create someone like Liette?

"Go on Joe."

Her hard voice tore into him, a pair of scissors hacking at the seams of his cool demeanor. He wasn't so badly to keep himself calm and pastoral with Liette but she was finding ways to push him. Joe could feel himself getting more frustrated with her despite his best efforts to remain on a level plain.

Why couldn't she just understand?

This was for her.

All of it was go her.

"Joe." Liette repeated, her voice instructing him to go on. She only wanted him to speak so she could get out of here. She was ready to run and hide. Joe didn't want that. He hated the idea of himself as the monster in her closet. He understood how he had become that to her but he was sure that there was a way to change it. So many people now understood and appreciated what he did, why couldn't she?"

"I had to finish what I started with Sarah Fuller, you have to understand that." Joe started from the beginning, planning on taking his time with every word that he pronounced. He wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

"I'm afraid I don't."

Rip. Another stitch in the seam of his calm demeanor ripped open by her words.

"What don't you understand?" Joe hid the irritation in his voice the best he could but he was sure that Liette could have seen it in her eyes if she would just look up. Her gaze was casted down on her hands in her lap. She wouldn't lift her eyes, not even for a moment to look at him.

"Any of it."

The answers she was giving were not the answers of a trained FBI agent who was fishing for leads or looking for connections. Her words hit him in a deeply personal tone, the gravity of them very apparent to Joe as he took them in. She wasn't just upset with him, she was livid. Anger, confusion and rage swirled together in every syllable that fell from her lips, each sound a slit that cut into Joe more and more.

"I did this to save you. I did this to show you I loved you, even when I couldn't say it." he had been so cautious about keeping his marriage alive, about keeping his family together. He had sacrificed so much to try and hold onto an ideal that had never made too much sense. The divorce rate was about fifty percent these days. It really shouldn't have come as a surprise that he and Claire wouldn't make it. Then again, who imagines that they're going to get a divorce? An average person entered their marriage thinking they had found a thing to last for a life time. They believed that they had found the love to end all others in their lives. Joe had seen that belief in himself and looking back now he realized how much of a fool he had been. Not for believing in a love of a lifetime but for believing that it could have ever been Claire over Liette.

"Butchering girls was your version of a valentines cards?"

Spite. It was such an ugly feeling. Joe could sense that Liette was fighting a sense of guilt by firing back at him. She had no reason to feel guilt. Each and every kill had been done by his own hands, lives taken because he had the strength to end them. With surgical precision he had cut out the eyes of his victims, shattering the widows to their souls, ridding them of the imperfection that made them so different from the girl who sat across from him now. But she wasn't a girl anymore, Liette was a woman, and she was a dangerous one.

"You're looking at this all wrong."

"How am I supposed to look at it Joe? A dozen girls are dead because of me!"

"Not because of you, _for_ you."

She wasn't seeing the different. This wasn't her fault, even if she had been his trigger. His nature had always aired on the chaotic side, his love for Liette had simply unlocked an evil strength that he hadn't expected to find in himself. It had become sickly sweet for Joe to live in that chaos, the unruliness that had come with loving Liette. At home with Joey and Claire he had been controlled, cautious and civil. In front of Agent Ryan Hardy he appeared a charming professor who wouldn't harm a fly. To his students he had been a romantic, someone to swoon over. And to Liette he had been a friend. None of them had seen the devil within him, not until it was too late.

Liette could see it now.

"So what now Joe?" Her voice remained quiet, even as she challenged him. The tone came out in a whisper, one that was still quite afraid despite her anger. Joe could see how mixed up she was, fighting to keep control of her emotions all while resisting the urge to get up and run. She wanted to prove herself as the federal agent she always wanted to be but at the same time she hadn't expected to have to prove herself in front of Joe. It was one thing to face a monster but to face your own personal one was something else. "You said that was just the prologue, what kind of sick story do you have for me this time?"

Sick story.

Sick, that was what she thought of him.

Joe could feel the seams of his calmness rip, threatening to break apart as he hung on by a thread. He balled his fists, trying to ground himself in the action but as Liette spoke again Joe knew he was doomed.

"Get on with it."

"Liette do not test me!" Joe barked, suddenly on his feet again, his hands reaching for her but coming short because of the restriction his chains caused. The metal shook against the table and Liette flew back in fear, flinching the moment that Joe positioned himself against her. Her cold, unfeeling words had his chest heaving as if he had just run a mile. He shoulders were hunched and he peered at her through narrowed eyes. The animal showed himself once again as his prey cowered in the corner. "I love you but I can only deal with so much insolence." he growled at her.

Liette became a small, fragile thing; she was a lost girl who had been searching for a home for so long. Joe had to tear his eyes away from her because he realized his shouting had created that broken thing. She built herself up only to be torn down by his harsh words. He had put her in her place but by doing so he had hurt their relationship once again. He was getting nowhere with her. It was becoming very clear to Joe that he had likely been too hasty in telling her all of this. He had been right to ask for Liette in exchange for Agent Weston but he had pulled the thread too quickly. Everything was unravelling.

Liette's hands slammed against the wall, capturing Joe's attention once more. The guards had appeared at the door, throwing it open once they had heard the commotion inside. They moved to come and subdue him but Joe sank back into his chair before they needed to throw him into it.

"It's alright." Liette spoke to the guards directly. "It was a misunderstanding." the guards looked to her for the truth but with a solemn nod she had them moving back into the hall. Peering out the door Joe could see that Ryan was standing there. A low chuckle came from Joe's voice as he realized that despite Ryan's roughness with Liette he still meant to protect her. Ryan was foolish thinking that was his job, the task belonged to Joe alone.

The metal door closed, removing Ryan from view and causing Joe to focus back on Liette who was moving back towards the table. Her eyes remained down, even as she sat down across from him.

"Love, look at me please." Joe begged for her gaze, needing to see the life in her eyes, needing to see that she was still there. Joe knew that traumatic experiences could drain a person of the individual they used to be. The idea of Liette losing herself because of his loss of control was not a burden that Joe wanted on his shoulders. "I'm sorry."

Liette didn't believe him and Joe could see that in her eyes but at least she was looking at him. "Just go on, please." the bitterness remained, the spite lingered in her tone but she was no longer trying to fight him. She was giving him the chance to tell her his plan, or at least what little he could divulge now without ruining it.

"I'm doing this for you Liette, for us. We're finally going to have our chance." Joe explained, a lightness falling upon his lips as they curved into a smile. He told himself that she'd come to appreciate this one day. "I'm going to do things right this time. We'll get to be together."

"That's enough." Ryan was back and he was waltzing into the room to ruin everything.

"I'm not quite finished Ryan, I'll be happy to talk to you after but do you mind?" Joe snarled.

"Actually I do. Come on agent, it's time to go."

Joe watched Liette hesitate and he wondered why. Did she need more answers? Was she looking for a better explanation? He hoped it was a show of reluctance to leave him but he also knew it was likely too early to wish for that. Hopefully it was at least a spark of curiosity, a wish to know what else was going on in his head. He needed to make her fall in love with his mind again and that was where he would trap her.

"Liette." Ryan spoke Liette's name and it managed to snap her out of the hesitant trance she had fallen into. Like as soldier she jumped up from the chair and stood straight, her shoulders back and her eyes forward. She shook the formality out of herself and turned towards the door. Joe's eyes watched her every move but in just three steps he was gone.

"Time to hold up your end of the bargain Joe."

"The men you are looking for are Lucas Wright and Daniel Carmichael."

Ryan left the same way that Liette did, the door swinging back and forth as the guards came in to transport him back to his cell. Nothing had gone as planning but Joe now had a bit more of a tangible experience to hold onto when it came to Liette. He was one step closer and he would look at every day as another chance to close in on her.


	14. Chapter 14 - Don't Let Them Take You

**Thank you everyone for your reviews. I love hearing what you all think of the rewrite. Sorry for the delay in chapters, my life has been quite hectic. Anyway, keep on reading and keep on giving me feedback, it all helps me become a better writer so I appreciate it a lot. Enjoy!**

With quick permission from Debra, Liette closed herself in an empty office down the hall where she was shielded from Joe and his menacing looks. She tried desperately to pull away from the victimized girl that she had become in a matter of seconds. How had she come to this state? Why had she let him scare her into submission? One simple shout and she was cowering in the corner like a scolded child.

_Get a hold of yourself._

This wasn't the first time she had slipped away like this but the sorrow had never come so quickly before. Her personal connection with Joe made this different. Her heartstrings were being plucked like an old violin, the musician careless and cruel as he pulled the strings so hard they snapped. Liette felt herself breaking, even more than her colleagues could see it.

She had become a teacher at the FBI academy early in her career, not just by her own choice but by order of the director. After hearing reports of Liette time and time again slip into a darker state of mind when working on cases the director of the FBI had wondered how she had passed her psychological evaluation at all. Liette sounded troubled and sometimes others would go as far to call her unstable. It was upon meeting Liette that the director had understood why the girl continued to be an effective agent. She made leaps and bounds that her other team members couldn't; she remembered minuscule facts that seemed irrelevant but quickly fit together in an important message once her brain had time to decipher them. In all, Liette really was as much of a genius as everyone said she was. She was a valuable asset to the FBI.

Also, keeping her on a team made it less likely that she'd become one of the predators that they were hunting. It seemed silly to think that a girl like Liette, who appeared cold but fragile could become anything more than a danger to herself. It seemed more likely that she'd end up in an asylum or in protective custody because of some harm that her complex and intricate brain caused herself than any harm that she could cause to others. And yet there was still that worry.

What if she became a monster?

In no way could anyone label Liette a psychopath. Despite her cold and calculating nature it was clear that she still felt empathy and remorse. There had been a number of cases already where Liette had showed unique connections with victims and their families, bringing out a side of herself that was pushed away with most of the team. She opened up on morning walks with Mike and the dogs. She checked in on people when something was wrong. It was clear that this wasn't a young woman who was malicious or didn't care, she was just slightly socially deficient. Still, she didn't need to be a full fledged psychopath to hurt someone, most criminals don't score that high on the scale, they just score higher than average.

The new question was, what if Joe turned Liette into the monster they feared?

It was the worry that plagued Debra Parker as she paced outside the office that Liette had locked herself into. She wanted to believe that Liette's shock and fear were real and that she wasn't some brilliant actor that had fooled them all for years. The idea of someone getting into the bureau on a mission for Joe Carroll was sickening, even with the knowledge of Joe's affluent influence. Liette couldn't be one of them, but then again even if she wasn't one of them now it didn't mean she wouldn't become one of them.

From watching the video tapes Debra recognized a power relationship between Joe and Liette that unsettled her. So far all of Joe's followers had been driven acolytes that had come to love and worship the man in the other room. Still, their relationship to Joe wasn't the only possible relationship between an acolyte and a cult member. Debra had dedicated much of her career to studying cults in order to try and understand the life she had come from. From the study of cults everyone was ready to provide descriptions of helpless followers, finding their place amongst a strange organization led by a sensational man. Not as many people were willing to talk about the people who found themselves amongst the ranks of cults but questioned their own loyalty.

What if Liette hadn't handed her soul over to Joe yet? What if she was one of those who hesitated, who didn't raise the poisoned chalice to her lips without hesitation but questioned him even as she revered him. The way Joe had controlled Liette's emotions had not been surprising to Debra but it had been eyeopening. Instead of completely withdrawing into a shell of silence the girl had flung back, moved into the corner and tried to escape. That flight response was not typical for Liette, in any other situation where Liette had become too invested in the case she had always shown to lower her voice, narrow her eyes and become someone of a ghost. Her reaction to Joe had been more violent in the sense that she had ripped herself away from his control. Debra hoped that meant she still had a chance.

Debra opened the door of the empty office with caution. Her eyes cast about the room until she found Liette standing against the back wall, shoulders slumped and head down.

"Liette?" Debra beckoned her attention, her voice snapping the young woman's head up, showing the tear filled brown eyes that shifted uncomfortable away from Debra's gaze. "Are you okay?"

It was a question Liette hated more than she could explain. It was vague and unanswerable. It wasn't as socially acceptable to say no because that put the asker in the difficult position. You were supposed to just say yes and move on. Liette couldn't.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Liette refused to answer the question but she posed her own, her hands shaking as she used their place on the stone wall to pick herself up a little. Her head lifted, her shoulders straightened. Debra understood that with all that had happened she had poised herself against Liette in a a way that she hadn't meant to. She had turned to girl into bait, all while accusing her of false loyalties. It had been unfair treatment but at the time it had seemed completely necessary.

Maybe it still was.

"You do realize what you did in there was a good thing, don't you?" Debra deflected, stepping into the room slowly. "He's told you more in the last hour than he's told any of us in the past two weeks."

"How is any of this a good thing?" Liette had already crossed the line of not being able to control her emotions. It was one of her weaker spots as a profiler. Despite her unsocial attitude, Liette had no problem in making things personal, even when they really weren't. She lost her control more than she would like to admit and her temper wasn't easily settled when it was awakened.

Debra had enough experience with Liette to know that her next words would likely be useless and yet she pushed on. "Putting you in there with him already helped us save Mike, it could save a lot more people. It could put an end to this."

It had been the wrong time to push the issue, to suggest that this was just the beginning. Liette's shaking hands came up to her face, messily wiping the tears for her eyes before her fingers tore through her hair, grasping at the strands as if she could grasp onto her sanity.

"We can get you a counsellor if this is too much."

"I don't want therapy! I want to be rid of him!"

A knock interrupted Debra before she could attempt to calm the other woman down. Both sets of eyes darted to the door that was then slowly opened to show Ryan standing there, his shoulders straight and his head held high.

"What is it?" Debra snapped, misdirecting her frustration.

"It's Mike." Ryan said cooly, ignoring Debra's tone. "He's asking for you." Ryan's eyes moved past Debra and connected with Liette's. Her hands lowered from her hair, she straightened every article of clothing on the way down to her hips where her arms came to hang dead by her side. A sharp breath seemed to steady her as she closed her eyes and slipped away into her thoughts for a moment.

"Liette." Debra's voice gave her no moment of peace, refusing to let the woman get lost in that dangerous mind of her. It was a beautiful and brilliant thing but Debra knew that it would take a lot more than simple therapy to help if Liette was given the chance to dwell on any of this for more than a moment.

"What?" Liette snapped, her eyes opening and narrowing on Debra as if she was staring at an opponent. Debra did not jump or even flinch, instead her charm tensed and the features of her face hardened, care slipping away from her as authority seemed to take over her entire body.

"Go see Weston." it wasn't a request, it was an order and although Liette wasn't entirely interested in listening to Debra right now she was interested in getting out of this prison for a few hours. Without another word she pushed past Debra and stopped at Ryan as he held up a set of car keys.

"No joy riding." he offered her a weak smile as he placed the keys in her hand.

For a moment Liette actually believed that they were going to let her go on her own and then Debra's voice sounded again.

"Why don't you go with her Ryan? I'll get the team working on Joe's men."

No one protested, there was no point.

"You drive." Liette said, placing the keys back in Ryan's hands before she headed towards the parking lot. The further she could get away from Joe, Debra and this place, the better.


End file.
